The Death of the Queen
by sardonic whispers
Summary: Ever wonder what became of Link's mom? This story tries to answer that question. The result may surprise you. It surprised me. How did that spider guy and his family get cursed? Why is Nabooru looking for those gauntlets? Ever wonder?
1. The Ocarina of Time

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with Nintendo. Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time and its characters do not belong to me, but I guarantee, you will not think of them in quite the same way again... This story reflects some questions that I felt needed answering.

If you don't like the idea that Link and Zelda are brother and sister, inspite of the fact that they both are blonde, have blue eyes, Link has a mom and Zelda a dad, and Zelda dresses like a nun (ie, a "sister"), just read it anyway. It will have you saying "Holy Crap!" at the end of every chapter, or I'm not doing my job.

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 1: The Ocarina of Time**

The army of the desert gathered in the glimmering dusk on the plains of Hyrule. Their truncheons and spears lent the horizon a menacing profile, while the restless movement of the calvary in the uncertain light, made it seem like one undulating monstrous creature.

The army of Hyrule, gathered behind the raised drawbridge, hunkered down now in the town for 2 weeks, moved restlessly in anticipation and dread. Their supplies were running low. Any diplomatic measures were repelled, paid back in blood. Rumors and speculation wore down morale. It seemed that every action initiated by their fearless leader was perfectly counteracted by the evil Lord Ganondorf. Some wondered if Ganondorf might have some traitorous Kakarikan guiding him. Others speculated that maybe someone within the town or castle might actually be a spy for the desert king. Even the King's advisors could think of nothing else to explain one loss after another.

It was true that Hyrule had had no communication with Kakariko Village since the beginning of the seige. In the King's mind, no one from Kakariko could possibly betray them. He was the only one privy to their true nature. Like mists that surround the marsh, so the Kakarikans had this miasma of power around them, and the King knew that even as individuals, the smallest of them was difficult to overcome. They had protected the Royal family for generations and at times, acted as assassins. Even now, as he thought of Impa or her twin brother Impo, he knew that he could entrust them with one of the most important jobs in the kingdom. They would guard the children with their lives.

The desert king had sent assassins after the most vunerable of the Royal family: the heirs. and of all the people who were stationed at the castle, the two Kakarikans were the only ones who had the capability of defending against that powerful dark lord. Already the evil king had threatened the good king's son, and had attempted to kill the child a mere week before the seige of Hyrule had begun. He was glad that he had sent Impo with his wife and son and had escaped the seige before it had begun. But he worried that he was unable to communicate with them for so long. She knew what to do, though, if worse came to worse. He remembered the frantic night of their departure, while she stood in the royal bed chamber without any trace of royalty upon her: no elaborate gowns, no jewelry, no crown, not one glimmer of richness. A peasant's dress and rude cloak were the only things she wanted to take with them. There was time for nothing else. Yet the rough clothing could not hide her elven beauty.

Their blonde three year old son was sleeping, and already slung upon her strong back. He was a slight boy, destined for great things, and she carried him lightly.

The King embraced them for a while, until he could trust himself to speak without waver.

"If you should..." he began.

She nodded brusquely, wiping her eye. "I know what to do" she said in a low voice.

"No one's been in that forest for 3 generations." he said, unable to keep worry from his voice. "The Great Deku tree is getting old. They may trap you instead of help you."

"Shh" she said. "We've considered all the options. I leave this with you."

She handed him the Ocarina of Time.

He felt a shiver of frozen dread clench at his throat as he gazed at her family heirloom. He could feel a protest begin within his heart.

"For her." she said.

Zelda lay peacefully sleeping in her nursery down the hallway, oblivious of the great change about to take place in her family.

"It is you who must come back to give it to her." he said.

She looked at him, her eyes like dark pools of night, but said nothing.

She leaned toward him, into the safety of his strong arms one last time. She lifted her lips to his, softly touching them with hers, lingeringly, sweetly.

Overcome by the possibility that this would be their last embrace, he pulled her roughly closer, and squeezed until she gasped.

The prince's eyes opened, and he gazed around the room for a moment as if startled, then drowzily fell back asleep, lulled by the closeness and warmth of his mother.

At last the embrace ended. The King of Hyrule stood still, unable to bear to watch them leave. The Queen stooped to hoist up a small rucksack, then brushed passed him and opened the door.

Impa's brother Impo had been assigned to be stationed by the Queen's side, guarding and guiding them toward the safety of the Forest Temple. He left his post by the door and followed the Queen as she left the bedchamber. He barely glanced at the door behind which his sister stayed with the tiny princess. They had no need for good-bye. Each were duty-driven, and well skilled body guards. He put his hand on the hilt of his sword, and swept the hallways before them, checking every shadow for its significance, and the three left the castle without challenge.


	2. The Sword

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 2: The Sword**

The King quickly made his way down the secret passage that connected the castle with the Temple of Time. Soon this passage would be destroyed, as well as the link to the fairy fountain . He stopped there and gathered courage and strength. He carried with him the legendary Sacred Sword, which had been handed down to him through the many generations of Kings that had ruled Hyrule before him. It had been his fondest wish to pass it on to his son, but in these uncertain times, he felt compelled to place this sword into the safe keeping of the Sage of Light, who dwelt within the inner sanctum of the Temple of Time.

While his son and his wife had left Hyrule before the seige had begun, and unable to return since then, they were seeking refuge in the forest. Impo, brother to Impa of Kakariko village, accompanied the Queen and the Prince so that their safety might not be compromised. How he wished now, with all his heart, that he had sent 1/2 his army with them.

Should Ganondorf, the Desert King, discover that his prey was under his nose...

The King of Hyrule steeled himself to believe that enduring the siege kept Ganondorf thinking that the heir to Hyrule still lived behind its walls. As soon as the siege ended, the Good King would know that Ganondorf had discovered the Queen and her precious cargo. Keeping the siege going for as long as it had gave the King of Hyrule hope. He knew that the whereabouts of his son and his wife were still unknown to the enemy.

He paused at the steps of the Temple. The glimmering of dusk lent an eeriness to the Temple grounds. In the background looming behind the town wall, the dormant volcano seemed serene in its remoteness. He took a deep breath and entered the temple. He remembered how the assassin had been discovered, hovering over the boy, poised above the moat of the castle, where glimmering rupees caught the youngster's attention. The darkly hooded skull kid, about to plunge a poisoned knife into the Prince's heart, was instead wrenched backward by Impo, flung against a spiked fence that stood not 4 feet away. With a kick, Impo had sent the evil blade skittering across the paving stones, where it fell with barely a "plunk" into the rushing water.

"Who sent you?" Impo had demanded, his voice soft and dangerous.

The piteous cry of the skull kid did not soften Impo's resolve. Instead, he had pressed the frail body even more against the spike of the fence and repeated his question.

The King had seen it all from afar, as if in slow motion, and crystal clear. He had rushed to the scene, preventing Impo from impaling the pathetic creature altogether upon the royal fence. Impo had stepped away, turning his attention to the toddler who still played obliviously by the moat. The skull kid sobbed with relief. The King had given him the wooden flute that he had intended to give to his own son. The skull kid's story had come pouring out: how he had hidden in the forest because of his face, how Ganondorf sought him out with promises to give him the face of a prince should he but do one small thing: kill the Prince of Hyrule.

And once more, remembering this incident, the King's mind turned to the question: Why would such a great and powerful ruler like Ganondorf want to kill Hyrule's heir?

The disturbing question had been debated by his advisors, and they had concluded that the strange man could be after only one thing: the Sacred Triforce.

The sword, the jewels, the ocarina and the child were all keys to the source of all the power in the entire world. An attack on the Royal Family showed a monstrous ambition for that power. They doubled the guard on the Prince. The watch was reinforced, and everyone was on alert: that was why Ganondorf couldn't penetrate the fortified town. They had been wary of him and blocked his initial attack. Surely he must know by now that they would use these keys to lock the Triforce away forever.

His footsteps echoed in the temple as he walked toward the altar over which three irridecent jewels hovered. The emerald represented the forests of the Kokiri; the ruby, the fiery volcano of Death Mountain; the sapphire, the clear water of Lake Hylia. Their magical attributes drew the eye toward them as no ordinary jewel could. He paused, wary of echoing, stealthy footsteps behind him. Where were the guards that had been stationed here? He placed his hand on the hilt of the sacred sword. He turned quickly to scan the vastness of the temple floor, probing the dimmest corners with his sharp gaze. "Who's there?" he challenged, but none answered. He turned toward the altar and placed the ocarina to his lips. He played the tune that his wife had taught him, and the heavy doors scraped open. He mounted the steps into the ante-chamber, where the Sage of Time awaited him.

The King handed the sword to him. The old Sage withdrew the shining ancient blade from its scabbard and examined its markings to ensure that it was indeed one of the keys to the Triforce. He nodded and handed it back to the King, who then stepped toward the stone. It had been a very long time since the sword had been locked away. Even the Sage could not recall ever having seen it there. It had always hung at the King's side. The two of them had studied the ancient texts regarding the placement of this valuable item, but all they could find was a passage in the legend that said: "A Royal Hand may place it. A Royal Hand may take it." No other chants or waiting for the full moon, or any sort of ritual. The King held the sword point downward, and plunged it into the stone. The Sage of Time yanked the King away as a brilliant white light enveloped the sword.

"Close one." he said to the King. "You could have been sent into the future."

Before the King could formulate a response, the doors to the ante-chamber began to close. The men exchanged startled glances, and then began to run toward the narrowing doorway. The King managed to slip through, but the Sage of Time had tripped on his way down the stairs, and although he had recovered and followed the King quickly, the doorway was already too narrow for his girth. Someone must have removed the jewels! Someone must have seen what they were doing! By withdrawing the sacred stones from the Altar of Time, that someone had tried to seal them into the antechamber forever!

With only the ocarina, the King could not re-open the chamber. He had to get the jewels back.


	3. The Kokiri Emerald

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 3: The Kokiri Emerald**

The King of Hyrule stood empty handed, his back to the Altar of Time. The sword was sealed in the ante-chamber along with the Sage of Time. Now he needed it, and he couldn't get it. The only thing left was the Ocarina of Time, and it was useless without the jewels. He clenched his fist and lowered his head. Someone had outmanuevered him. An enemy dwelt within the gates. It was the only explanation. Unless Ganondorf had found a way to get in without anyone noticing him. He dismissed the notion as ludicrous, yet it kept gnawing the corner of his mind.

No one had come in or gone out of the town for 2 weeks. He entertained the idea of leaving the town in secret to seek his Queen and Heir, but he was the King. Even if there was a way out, there was the heavy yoke of obligation that kept him chained to the castle and the town. The smallest citizen was his responsibility, and if there was no other recourse but to stand between them and Ganondorf, he would. Without weapon. Without sheild. Fist to fist, he would beat that arrogant lord into the ground he stood on.

But he couldn't leave, not without great risk.

He lifted his head, his eyes flashing, and he strode out of the Temple of Time. As he stepped over the threshhold of the door, he saw a boot protruding from a nearby shrub. He paused and walked over to make the grizzly discovery of the missing guards. They lay in dark stains. One lay very very still. The other, not far off, moaned softly and curled his fingers.

The King stepped toward him quickly, knelt down, and turned him over. His helmet rolled away, revealing a gash that bled profusely. His eyes flickered open, focusing on the King's face, recognition lighting his dimming eyes. "Ganondorf" he gasped.

The name flew like an arrow into the King's brain. "Don't talk" he tersely commanded, and set about stopping the blood's flow. But the failing light of the evening was also the failing light of this soldier's life. The sun set, and the man became heavy with death. His eyes stared at nothing. His body became limp. An emerald rolled from his unclenched fist.

The King stared at it uncomprehendingly. At what cost had this brave soldier paid to grasp this treasure? He released the body and picked up the glimmering stone. After a moment, he pocketed the emerald and resumed his stride toward the castle.

How had Ganondorf gotten in? The thought of those black boots touching the soil of this town, roaming freely in the twilight, boiled his blood. He began to run toward the stables.

At the garrison, he burst into the door and told the captain of the guards that two soldiers were down at the Temple and Ganondorf was roaming the streets of the town. The place became a roiling sea of action as men grabbed weapons and shields and massed toward their captain who barked instructions. Four men were dispatched to the Temple.

The King divested himself of his blood-stained clothes and changed into more practical clothing. He transfered the gem into a pack. He was 35 years old. His body hadn't become soft with civilian life. He was disciplined in several martial arts: the art of the sword, the art of defense, the art of the mace, the art of horsemanship. He even knew a few secrets that the sages had given him: the endurance potions that lay scattered in several locations throughout the land.

He strapped on a sword, chose a bow and quiver from the armory, and slung a sheild over his pack.

The men were silent when he approached them thusly encoutred. They listened grimly as the King told them that the Sage was sealed and unable to lend any assistance. He told them that the Sacred gems had been stolen, one recovered. He told them the dying soldier's last word. He warned that they may have been betrayed by someone inside, or Ganondorf may be using undetectable magic. Then he told them to rally. They would meet the sneaking desert rat on the Plains of Hyrule.

The men began to gather every weapon at hand. They mounted their horses and headed toward the gates of the town.

The drawbridge was ordered down, and the army of Hyrule boiled out of the gates.


	4. Kakariko Village

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 4: Kakariko Village**

For days, Impo had observed the Queen as she went about her daily tasks without complaining. They had travelled long and hard to avoid unwelcome attention. At night, strange creatures began appearing, and it took all of his skill to avoid them. He had never encountered such creatures before. They rose up from the ground in groups of two or three and attacked with sharp talons, which they wielded with some skill. But they were slow and Impo easily avoided them with a well aimed deku nut. Because of this new threat, Impo decided that they ought to take refuge in Kakariko Village for the time being.

The Queen nodded wearily. Their horses, which they had picked up at LonLon Ranch some days ago, were beginning to feel the strain. They took the brunt of these unnatural attacks, and she worried about them.

She hadn't said much during the trek, and Impo was glad of it. Women who prattled into empty silences, feeling as if they should fill them with words, no matter how useless, gave him a feeling of weariness. If he responded, he felt compelled to respond, which was distasteful. If he remained silent, their woundedness was difficult to repair. She was nearly as stoic as his own wife had been, and he admired and respected her for that. Her silence allowed him to remain alert to any danger. She seemed to understand that.

The truth be told, her mind was spinning. She barely paid any attention to the quiet Kakarikan. She was glad he was there with them, but the horrific events of the past few days had left her drained. She could barely sleep at night for fear that someone or something would tear her child apart. She missed the babe she had entrusted to Impa. She relived the parting with the King. She felt so vunerable upon the open plain. When she slept, she dreamt of unsettling things. Things that hunted. Teeth that crunched. Screams no one could hear.

So they entered the village. He took her, unobserved, to the inn. Here, they rested a day or two, and then they heard the news: Ganondorf had laid seige to the town, and there was absolutely no going back. When the news reached the inn, the three were sitting down to a dinner of the inn wife's famous chicken stew. The little prince had their attention at first, because he had placed his fists straight into the heated bowl and was mashing the food into his mouth as quickly as he could.

The soldier who entered was splattered with some substance they couldn't quite comprehend, although Impo's hand went instinctively to his side where his hunting knife was sheathed. He listened attentively to the soldier's news and glanced at the Queen's whitening face.

"Ganondorf's attacked the town." he gasped.

People gathered there gestulated and whispered.

"The King repelled the attack and closed the drawbridge." he said in answer to someone's question.

"We lost about 50 good men." he said in response to another.

"Ganondorf's army is camped outside the town." he told another enquirer.

Then he sat heavily and let out a great gust of breath, collapsing.

Impo brushed rudely past those who were helping the man lay down. The soldier was obviously gravely injured and in need of aid. Impo knocked away helping hands and knelt beside the man. He shook him awake, much to the disapproval of those around them. "What of the King?" he asked.

"He...was wounded..." the man whispered. "The captain pulled him...back in...but he's still alive...He fought...like a lion."

Impo saw he would get no more news than that and backed away to allow others to care for the wounded man.

Impo scanned the room. More people were gathering. He gave the Queen a look and nodded to her. It was time to leave. He watched the room fill up with strangers while the Queen cleaned up the little prince and packed up their meagre belongings. They left the inn and Impo led the two to a near-by dwelling.

He knocked on the door with a rhythmic tattoo that could only be a signal.

A child opened the door. When he saw who stood there, his face lit up and he shouted: "Dad!" and he launched himself with all of his strength at Impo, nearly bowling the man over. Impo's face transformed when he smiled and the Queen wondered when she had last seen such a thing on him.

She was taken aback by the idea that Impo had a child, but not only one child came bowling out of the doorway: 5 others, all boys, rambunctiously greeted their father. Guessing the age of the youngest to be 8 or nine, she realized that Impo had to be nearly 40 or 45 already. Yes, his hair was white, but his skin was smooth and unblotched by age or worry.

They prepared for the evening.

The Village was settled at the foot of the mountain with only one entrance, easily defended. No one in the town believed that Ganondorf would attack the Shadow people. It wasn't a fort like Hyrule town, and Ganondorf didn't seem interested in the place--as yet. The Villagers gathered together for a town meeting, and while the Queen put the young prince to sleep for the evening, Impo slipped into the meeting to listen to what the elders wanted to do. A sense of pride welled up within him as he noticed how level-headed those gathered were. The questions and concerns that were floored came straight to the heart of the problem. No one panicked or brought up petty issues. Every point was relevant. Every problem had a solution. Impo stood with arms folded across his chest, his head bowed, mostly unnoticed by any others. He quietly slipped out and returned home, knocking the usual signal upon the door before entering.

They could do nothing but wait. Ganondorf was after the child. They could visit the mountain or visit the graveyard. To Impo, their position was precarious. Ganondorf was too close. There weren't too many places to go. If they could reach the Forest Temple, it would be through the Goron's secret passageway into the Lost Woods. There dwelt the skull kids. This was not a prospect Impo relished. There were too many uncertainies.

"I've got to scout a way to the Kokiri Forest." He told the Queen the next day. "Our only outlet seems to be Death Mountain, but I need to make sure that the way to the Forest can be done without going through the Lost Woods."

"I'll help, Dad." the youngest chimed in eagerly, his ears perked up to catch every word that his impressive father spoke.

Impo smiled fondly and rumpled the youngster's hair, but he paused, remembering the creatures that popped up on the night-time field of Hyrule. He shook his head. "Another time." he admonished. "Now go help your brothers with their chores."

On a crude peice of paper, he traced a path on the Kakariko side of the river, fording it before entering the territory of the Zoras, then sketching a way from there directly to the entrance of the Kokiri Village. She nodded in agreement, but he could tell that she was distracted. He knew that her sleep was haunted of late. She clung to the child too much for his liking. It was as if she was constantly saying good bye to the youngster for the last time in her life. He found this disturbing, but he was only a body guard, and her physical safety was paramount. Should Hyrule fall to Ganondorf, her son would be King. She needed to know that she had to be strong in case that happened. But he found within himself no words of consolation to give her. Sometimes the burden of life had to be shared without words.

He hated to leave the two of them, since anything could happen while he was gone. And he knew that he would be spending at least one night on the Field of Hyrule before returning.

The Village elders had sent scouts out last night, to gauge the strength of the army that camped infront of the drawbridge, but none had returned. This was not a good sign. Impo called the two eldest sons and gave them specific instructions for guarding the Queen and Heir, then he packed a small bag and left the village. His youngest son watched him go, then looked around to see if anyone was paying any attention to him. After Impo was nearly out of sight, he retrieved a hidden pack from the chicken pen, and hurried after his father with all the stealth his ancestry lent.


	5. Kaepora Gaebora

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 5 Kaepora Gaebora**

Ganondorf paced between the tents of his army, deep in thought, clearing his mind of troubling things, but the troubling things would not go away. How could he forget what that old man told him? It ate at him day and night. It drove him into dank abandoned libraries. It brought him to this darkened field. It compelled his every waking moment. Because of this, his men admired and feared him. He swore out loud. He could do only one thing now.

They had kept the Hyrulians holed up for two weeks. His face twisted into a smile at the thought of the desperate townfolk, who must be eating their annoying pet dogs by now. Even though the townfolk had cannily repelled his initial attack, (how had they known?), he knew that their every move since then had been counteracted. Now he was at the part of a conflict that he hated: waiting. He sent stalfos scouts out every night to ensure that no one left the town by stealth. Any who did would die gruesomely at their hands. Only the Sacred Sword could inflict permanent damage on them. Because of Ganondorf, evil things would forever roam Hyrule Field. He had unleashed the undead with forbidden rituals. They would return again and again to harrass unwary travellers from sunset to sunrise, and only the end of the world would release them.

Kaepora Gaebora, the old sage who had entrigued him with tales and prophecies, had paid the price for his encounter with Ganondorf. At that time, being one of his first victims, he was not turned into a stalfos as the rest had been. Because of his own inherent power, he had only been turned into an owl.

But not before reciting this tale.

"Amoung the Seven Sages, it is said there is a book of prophecies that tells the tale of three goddesses: Din, Farore and Nayru. Din created the land, Farore the sky, and Nayru every living thing. When they had accomplished these tasks, they left, leaving behind the sacred triforce. One of the prophecies say that one day, this triforce, which is a gateway to a future world, will be threatened by evil, and only the Hero of Time will be able to take it for safe-keeping.

Some say that the triforce is the source of all power in our world. Should anyone take it, they would be able to travel through time. They would be able to heal all wounds. They would be stronger than anyone else in the land. They would not be afraid of the worst monster. They would have enough wisdom to solve any problem. In other words, whoever has the triforce, would become the greatest ruler ever known."

Ganondorf had heard similar tales before and dismissed them as bedtime stories, but Kaepora Gaebora had within his possession, a strangely colored medallion. Upon setting his eyes to the thing, Ganondorf felt a powerful desire rising up. Kaepora Gaebora saw it and smiled, not realizing the danger he was in. Kaepora himself felt the compelling pull of the coin and felt so confident in his ability to safe-guard it, that he did not see the desert man's intention until too late. With a deku nut, Ganondorf immobilized the old man. He took the coin from the paralyzed hand, and as he touched the coin, there came the certainty that all the legends and prophecies were true. In his mind's eye, he could see the young prince smiling and wielding the Sacred Sword, surrounded by a brilliant light.

He wove the deadly forbidden spell around the old man, expecting him to be reduced to bones, but found that somehow, the old man had counteracted him, and turned into a giant brown owl.

Ganondorf smiled at the memory. The old man had been troublesome, but Ganondorf had captured him in his owl form and caged him. From time to time, he fed him field mice and gave him a plate of water. The old bird was somewhat bedraggled, but Ganondorf enjoyed to see suffering, and tortured him more by thanking him for the gift he had handed over. Kaepora Gaebora said nothing. He only blinked and turned his head, waiting for an unguarded moment.

Before transforming the Sage, Ganondorf had learned from the old man a certain trick where by he might travel in ghost-form to a distant place and spy on whomever he pleased. In this way, he entered the fortified town, and found himself at the Temple of Time. Surprising the guards there with his sudden appearance, his reflex was to silence them. He felt a pleasant thrill of power emminating from the strange coin in his possession, when their blood flowed. He dragged them into the nearby bushes and entered the dim temple. _How could this be? _ he wondered. Kaepora didn't say anything about the ghostly projection becoming solid.

He saw the legendary jewels hovering in place above the altar, but the ante-chamber was closed. He heard footsteps behind, and just on time, hid behind one of the giant pillars. He stole a glance and recognized the King of Hyrule. A thrill of pure glee travelled throughout his being. _What luck!_ he thought. _I can take him here, in the temple. _The King, however, whirled around and challenged the slightest sound. Ganondorf froze. Faced with his enemy, he hid, focusing on the coin as Kaepora had directed. The King relaxed, then took out a strange object and put it to his lips.

At the sound of the Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf felt the kind of dread that kept him frozen to the spot. This was not what he expected. The melody of time echoed in the empty, high vaulted chamber and resonated in a very unpleasant way. Ganondorf found this disconcerting, for now he was faced with an unexpected problem: how would he get into the ante-chamber to travel forward in time if he couldn't even bear the melody of the Ocarina? He realized, reluctantly, that he would somehow have to manipulate someone into doing it for him. That meant a member of the Royal Family. A cruel smile curled his thin lips. The first to come to mind was the Queen. Everyone in the land knew she possessed magical attributes and that the Ocarina was hers.

He crept closer to the open doors of the ante-chamber and observed while the King and the Sage of Time consulted breifly. He watched the King plunge the Sacred Sword into the pedastal, and as he watched, an evil impulse compelled him to marched back to the altar and remove the three spiritual stones. Without a backward glance, he pocketed the jewels and nearly laughed as he heard the heavy stone doors begin to close, sealing in the King and the Sage of Time: both in one fell swoop! Two birds with three stones! He nearly laughed outloud at his own wit.

As he left the Temple, his happiness was cut short by the appearance of one of the guards he had thought he had already dispatched. Taken by surprise, Ganondorf quickly reacted, again subduing the guard, this time, with a vicious and powerful blow to the head. The soldier, however, managed to grab the evil King's cloak on his way down, and gave it enough of a tug that a single sacred jewel became dislodged. Not noticing the loss of the emerald, Ganondorf fled, disappearing with the power that Kaepora Gaebora's coin had given him.

He found himself back in his tent, the caged owl opening one eye to balefully gaze upon him from his darkened corner. Ganondorf tossed his cloak carelessly upon a nearby chair and broodily sat down on it. _There was something not quite right..._ he thought to himself as he removed his bloodied gauntlets and tossed them in a heap at his feet. He absently unbuttoned his vest and shirt, shrugging out of them and adding them to the heap. _The melody of Time...should it have made me freeze like that?_ No, he decided, that wasn't the thing that bothered him. He rested his head on the back of the chair and closed his eyes. He draped one leg over the arm of the chair, and brushed the floor with fingers from the opposite side. He let his mind wander where it wanted, and he half-slept like that, in repose for several minutes.

Then he sat bolt upright, realization dawning on him.

"Nabooru." he shouted.

The guards stationed at his tent tossed her in. Her hands were tied behind her back, and the guards kicked the back of her knees so that she crashed to the floor before him.

"Leave." he curtly told the guards. He stood, and turning his back to her, began ablutions, pouring water into a basin from a jug, and washing the blood from his hands and face.

She watched in cold silence. His body was wonderfully sculpted. He was 22 years old, 7 years her senior. Under other circumstances, they would already be married and ruling the Gerudos together. She had tried to steel herself to bear such an alliance, but his cruelty was excessive and her nature too fiery. Thus, she found herself bound before him, already having refused him on one formal occasion and several other informal ones. She had even given him a scar, which he indifferently showed to her now when he had turned his back on her--a great, ugly gash from his shoulder to the middle of the back.

He dried himself and put on a clean shirt. Then he stood beside her and put his hand on her head.

She became very still, not even daring to breathe. What now?

He curled his fingers at the nape of her neck, tightening them around her hair. He hauled her off of her knees and brought her face close to his. "Did you know..." he said quietly near her ear, "That I think there is something not quite right in Hyrule?"

The owl swivelled his head to gaze intently at the couple.

Nabooru said nothing. Not one indication that he was hurting her crossed her face. She lowered her glance to hide the anger that flashed dangerously.

He laughed softly when he saw her face become flushed and her body more rigid. _If her hands weren't tied right now_, he thought, _she'd scratch out my eyes_. He was a step ahead of her.

"I saw the King at the Temple of Time" he said, dragging her across the tent and throwing her onto his bed. He was amused by her outraged dignity that quickly shattered her resolve to be stoic. He sat down beside her. "Don't worry." he said. "I can take more willing women than you any time I want." The twisted smile became broader, but he gave her a distainful, encompassing gaze, as if he found her lacking.

He allowed his gaze to focus on the tent door, and he said: "He played an amusing tune on that Ocarina you were talking about."

He glanced slyly at her, watching her reaction. Her face was not quite schooled enough to hide her puzzled expression, and he felt a thrill of pure evil when he saw it, because it confirmed what he suspected. He gently stroked her bare arm and she flinched away from him, not knowing what to expect. "You didn't say the _King_ could play it."

His words fell into the quiet stillness. Her heart stopped for a moment, and then began to race.

"That means that the Queen isn't even there." He said.


	6. Spiders!

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 6: Spiders!**

Impo scouted the edge of the river between Kakariko Village and the entrance to Zora's Domain. The bank was narrow and dangerous, but still passable. No horse could fit on this trail, however, so he knew that it would be slow going. As he splished through the water, he thought that he heard a splash behind him. He turned quickly, but saw nothing. He continued on his way, staying alert for any more suspicious signs. He scouted all the way to the entrance to the Kokiri Forest without event. The river wasn't even that high. He made a small meal for himself and rested a while before turning back. The sun was passed its zenith. A haze covered the distance, the only indication of the occupying army. For a long while, he stared at it unemotionally.

He should return using the same pathway, but he wanted to see the enemy's strength. In this long silence, he seriously weighed the risks against his obligations, then rose and headed for the fenced-off bluff that overshadowed the river. From there, he would be able to see the enemy for himself, yet be close enough to the entrance of the Village if he had to make a dash for it. Had he known that his youngest child doggedly followed him, he never would have considered it at all.

At this point in the seige of Hyrule, Ganondorf was reduced to impotently keeping the Hyrulians in. He was often seen infront of his army, madly spurring his black stallion and brandishing his sword. He had tasted blood and he wanted more. On occassion, should he venture too near their range, the Hyrulians would reply with a volley of bolts. His whole army champed at the bit for a fight, but settled instead, into glowering, simmering impatience. They had camped, just out of range of the Hyrulian arrows, in a semi-circle before the drawbridge. Some lay scattered toward the river, others, toward the ranch. Their reeking campfires lent a haze to the air that no breeze could fully dissipate.

By the time Impo reached the outcrop, the campfires were like twinkling stars dotting the plains infront of the stronghold. Night had fallen, and he had already fought off the first of the boney intruders. No doubt, he thought now, a result of Ganondorf's presence, and the most likely reason why no scouts had returned to the Village that morning. A sudden cry far behind him caught his attention. He recognised that voice! He instantly and wildly turned from the bluff and raced back to where he thought he had heard him, unsheathing his sword and readying a couple of Deku nuts. The moon had risen. By its light, he could see their bony arms rising and falling. A strange, chittering noise accompanied every movement they made. Their victim had already fallen to the ground...

With a loud cry, Impo charged the evil creatures, who, reacting slowly to his presence, turned around to face him. He quickly immobilized them and chopped their heads off, then turned all his attention to the bloody stain at his feet. He froze for a moment in agony and grief. He slowly lowered the point of his sword, then it dropped from his nerveless fingers. His knees weakened and he could feel a knot in his chest. Even in the moon's pale light, he recognized his youngest child, who now lay quite still. It looked as if he had put up an enormous fight. There were burn marks everywhere...

From afar, even within the camp of the desert army, the cry of some wounded animal ululated across the empty, dark plains. For a moment, those who heard it, became still and fearful, not knowing what it was they were listening to. The same unusual cry even penetrated the threshold of the Kokiri forest, causing those who heard it to look up from what they were doing, tilting their heads, listening intently. To them, it seemed as if some great hunting animal had been sorely wounded. They wondered, upon hearing it, what ill tidings it boded, and they wondered, for the first time in a long time, what events were unfolding in the outer world.

He picked up his youngest child's remains and began walking back to the Village. He stared before him with dead eyes. He didn't care who crossed paths with him, be it alive or undead, he simply slashed them with one powerful stroke. He turned sadly back to the site of his son's death, and retrieved his forgotten sword. Then he resumed his sad, defeated, unknowing meander, cradling the corpse defensively, his mind in a turmoil of self-recrimination. He didn't care who crossed paths with him, be it alive or undead, he simply slashed them with one powerful stroke.

His strides brought him close to the edge of Ganondorf's encampment, but those who spotted his ghostly pale figure thought he was one of the bloodied undead that Ganondorf had summoned to keep the Hyrulians in, so they let him be. He was about to cross the bridge without challenge, when he paused, his back crawling with that feeling that a great deal of someones were behind him that he absolutely should not could not and would not turn his back on.

Carefully, he laid his late son down on the ground and deliberately turned toward the encampment. As a body-guard, he knew that this was definately a situation to avoid. As a father, he knew that he had 5 other sons who needed him. He withdrew his sword from its place and began to walk toward the encampment. With this step, and this sword, he sealed his fate, and the fate of his children. When he stepped into the circle of light made by the nearest campfire, he began slashing and stabbing in a silent and deadly manner, continuing thusly for several minutes before the camp became roused and turmoil ensued.

Ganondorf, sitting broodily in his tent, bored out of his mind, and chafing at the prospect of a prolonged seige, was about to summon a Gerudo woman to his bed for some torture and amusement, (hers and his, respectively), when he became aware of disturbance in the camp. He thrust aside the tent flap. Was it TwinRova? He had asked the errant witch for assistance last week. As usual, their bickering slowed them up a mite in their response, inevitably arguing over who was younger. _Stupid hags._ he thought. Although combined, they were pretty hot. He tried to stay away from them as much as possible, and they didn't seem to care much about his conflict with Hyrule. They had given him the silver gauntlets, however, and promised to drop by to see how things were going.

His tent was slightly elevated above the rest, but it was dark. He couldn't see much except some flying bodies coming closer and closer. Then he spotted a white haired warrior in the eye of the storm of flying bodies. He was slicing and dicing his men as they slept! Ganondorf swore. He dashed back into the tent and hurriedly put on the silver gauntlets and picked up his sword. He ran straight for the madman, a ball of black energy forming in his free hand. _What's this?_ he wondered in some corner of his mind. Dark power coursed through his body. He could feel it building within him, culminating in his palm. With deadly accuracy, he threw it straight at the white-haired man. He gasped, rather surprised by what had just occured.

His eyes like lazer sights, Impo dodged the evil mass of energy Gonondorf had aimed at him. Impo was covered in ichor. His shirt was in shreds. In the firelight, he stood like an avenging angel, his red eyes glowing with hatred, his long white hair streaming wildly behind him. By now, the whole camp was roused, and a healthy distance was between him and any potential victim. A great circle of soldiers surrounded the Kakarikan. He lowered his dripping sword, but kept his gaze focused on Ganondorf. Pound for pound, they were an equal match. The hole in the ground where Impo had been standing a moment ago was testimony to the power that Ganondorf already weilded. With all of his strength, Impo crouched, preparing to spring at his enemy.

Ganondorf smiled in pleasure. This was better. He could feel the danger emmanating from this strange, white-haired man. He stood calmly waiting for the attack.

With all his might, Impo launched himself at Ganondorf, throwing several Deku nuts, and at the same time, raising his sword.

Ganondorf hit the deku nuts out of the air before they could hit their target. His arm still outstretched, he grasped Impo's throat, even while Impo came charging full tilt, sword drawn. The evil king felt the sword's impact into his side, but he held his ground. Black power welled up within him. With the silver gauntlets, he lifted Impo off of the ground. Impo let go of the sword and put both his hands on Ganondorf's wrist. The Dark Lord's strength was unexpected. Impo realized that he had grossly underestimated him. He could feel the gauntlet and glanced down at it, seeing there a glint of silver, and he had a brief moment to realize the source of Ganondorf's strength.

Shaking him like a puppy, Ganondorf tossed the warrior to the ground with a mighty crash. Impo had the breath knocked out of him, and he struggled to regain it. For a moment, he couldn't move. Ganondorf took that moment to stride leisurely over to him and crouch down. He looked at the Kakarikan with cold curiousity. "Who do you think you are?" he asked him conversationally,as if they sat across from each other at a table sipping tea. "Some kind of avenger?" When he saw that the man would get up, he placed one gauntleted hand on his chest and pressed down slightly. Impo couldn't move at all. He could only endure the humiliation of such a quick defeat. "Look around you." Ganondorf continued. "Do you see any friends here? Did you think that you could defeat my army by yourself?" Then he sneered a little and modified his question: "Did you think that you could defeat _me_ by yourself?" His voice was quiet and emotionless, but his eyes were like marbles. He withdrew the sword from his side and tossed it far away. Then he applied pressure to the wound, closed his eyes, and felt the swirling power concentrated at the gash, felt the blood flow stop, felt the ache recede. He curled his fingers around the Kakarikan's neck and pressed ever so lightly. Impo's face began changing color.

Those surrounding the two men ventured closer.

"Don't you know," Ganondorf continued, using the same tone of voice as before, "that I am a monster amoung monsters?" Then he began a long, familiar chant. The chant that changed men into bones, and mighty warriors into mindless knuckles. Such bones and knuckles followed Ganondorf's last words to them. The last wish Ganondorf had for these cursed beings was to constantly thirst for the blood of others.

As he neared the end of his spell, a giant form suddenly interceded, and interjected a whispery word: "Let him and his children serve me, Lord Ganondorf."

Ganondorf looked up into the one green eye of Queen Gohma.

Impo lay helplessly in the grip of the black king, and raised his eyes in dread to the bulky, giant spider, whose dark body in the flickering light was gross and distorted. His ears were ringing, his eyesight dimming as the king's grip tightened. The giant spider was only a shadow. Her whispery voice less than a murmur. Impo could feel the effect of the evil man's words shuddering throughout his body, yet within him was a tunnel vision of the future, a future in which a small mute boy stood before the powerful man and defied him. He struggled against the gauntlet one last futile time, and managed to say what it was he saw: "He will defeat you!" He locked eyes with his nemesis. He tried to spit in his face, but instead felt his body begin to distort into the shape that was commanded of it. The last sight he saw with human eyes was the evil smile of Ganondorf.


	7. Sun Song

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 7: Sun Song**

Queen Gohma hovered over her newly made servant. The present to her from the powerful new king satisfied her greatly. She might indeed seriously consider an alliance with him. Instead of transforming the man into the usual bony creature, he had been made into a beautiful dark, eight-legged spider. His nasty unnatural hair color was gone. He was faster and stronger than he ever could be as a human. He could spin webs to catch unwary prey. Indeed, she thought, she had saved the man from being one of Ganondorf's unimaginative creations, and if the spell had been correctly cast, other, smaller humans were at this moment being transformed into spiders.

"You and your children will serve me until I die." the arachnid queen intoned. "The only way out for you is to gather 100 spider tokens, then you and your family may go free."

Now the Queen loved to dangle hope infront of someone hopelessly entangled, for she knew that no one could possibly gather 100 spider tokens from the places she intended on hiding them. Besides, the family would be trapped as spiders and unable to do anything whatsoever should she die. If she wasn't there to bid them do anything, then nothing is what they would do. They could never gather the tokens themselves, because she would never order them to do so, and if she wasn't around, they could never leave to look for the tokens on their own.

Ganondorf removed his hand from the creature, now that Queen Gohma had made the last words of the spell compelling to the unfortunate man. He didn't quite like the option that she had given the warrior. It was better that these cursed creatures suffer endlessly, and everyone around them suffer too. He shrugged. _Amateur._ he thought, and turned away from the scene to retreat into his tent. It was late. He was tired. Once again he had saved everyone's asses. He removed the gauntlets, which now seemed to irritate him if he wore them too long. He washed up and donned a new shirt.

He sprawled on his bed, not interested in women or torture anymore, but dwelt greatly upon the darkness that had risen up out of him like black lightning and plowed a hole in the ground where that man had been standing. He tried summoning the same dark power, but found that his arm had gone a little numb. All he could manage was a little white ball of light. His arm burned with pain that made him cry out. He stopped trying to summon the dark power. He gasped, beads of sweat breaking out on his brow. Still, this new power opened up a whole new avenue of possibility.

He thought, too, about the man: his quickness, his motive for charging the entire army on his own, his insane strength. Had the man been a roaming Hyrulian, stranded with the army between him and his home? Given the man's strength, he doubted it was that random. Had he been one of the elite Hyrulian army that had snuck out of the stronghold to gather reinforcements or supplies from nearby villages? That was more likely. Although, the more he thought of the way the man stood, the way he attacked, why would someone so highly trained...? _I guess its no mystery. The Hyrulians probably still needed to get some news out to the surrounding villages and ask for help. Of course they would send their most skilled warrior._ But he felt that there was still some unanswered questions, and he was missing something important.

Ganondorf knew that without the silver gauntlets, the white-haired man would have given him a real fight for his life. He cast a glance at the gauntlets that he had carelessly dropped onto the floor.

And what did he mean by those last word of his: "He will defeat you!"? Who will defeat him? Since carrying the medallion, he had come to recognise truth when it surfaced. He found the man's last words disturbing. The white-haired warrior had spoken with great certainty and conviction.

Ganondorf fell into a deep sleep brought on by exhaustion.

The queen awoke to an empty house. The sounds of chickens clucking as they foraged for their breakfast could be heard outside the open window. She looked over at her son. He slept peacefully, his blonde hair tousled, his pouting lips slack, his little fingers curled and twitching. She felt reassured by the sight of him sleeping beside her. All was right in the world with his presence.

She gazed around the house, but no one seemed to be in. The place was usually bustling with all those boys, the older ones shouting instructions to the younger ones, the younger ones chorusing things like: "I'm telling Dad!" and Impo wasn't back from his reconasance. He should have been back late last night. She decided that she wouldn't panic until lunchtime, so she got up and got ready. She made breakfast for herself and her little prince. She glanced out the window, wondering if the boys had gone out for a morning hike.

After they ate, she decided to step outside for a moment to see if any of the boys were about. It was really odd that none had come in to check in on her as Impo had instructed before he had left. She opened the door, and was faced with the thickest spider web she had ever seen. A chicken had been entangled in it and hung there in exhaustion at knee height. She froze for a moment, then slowly backed away. She searched the kitchen for a knife, and hacked at the sticky stuff, her face set in a grimace of disgust.

When she finally stepped outside, she was greeted with the sight of the entire village draped in gigantic webs. People were struggling to cut the webs away. Children had to be kept indoors, since they were most likely caught up in the tangle and the least able to extricate themselves. She began to realize that something very horrible had happened.

Gigantic spiders had been spotted by the grave-digger last night. He figured that maybe the spiders had eaten the boys, and probably Impo as well, if he had returned. He spectulated at great length along these lines of thought, but it was only a good guess at best, for no bodies were ever recovered, and no sinister marks of blood were ever found.

The Queen felt alone and vunerable. Bit by bit the villagers cleaned up the spider webs, but Impo and the boys never returned. The Queen spent several more days in the village waiting for them to return, on the off chance that they had engaged the spiders in battle, and might soon return. She knew, deep in her heart that Impo would never stay away from the Prince of his own volition. Only death would keep him from that duty. Although he had never voiced what was in his heart regarding his duty, she knew that he thought of the Prince as the future King, to be protected at all cost.

One day, while her son was napping, the Queen took it upon herself to visit the graveyard. She felt a certain need for guidance, and felt that visiting the site of her ancestor's resting place would help her find some direction. She had been there for several minutes, arranging flowers and placing offerings of food and water (as was the custom of her people), when the grave digger approached.

They struck up a conversation, and it came to light that someone, recently, had entered the graveyard using the Ocarina of Time and the Song of Requiem. The queen was startled, to say the least. She had forgotten that one of the gateways from the Temple of Time opened into the graveyard. Not too many people visited in this manner. Most usually walked. Only those who knew the Song of Requiem and had the Ocarina of Time could travel in this manner. Dampe, the gravedigger, went on to say that when he questioned the two, he found that they were royal musicians sent by the King to work out a way to avoid the creatures that roamed Hyrule Field at night.

The Queen's heart lifted with hope. Someone in this place carried the Ocarina of Time! If she could get in touch with them, maybe she and her son could get back into Hyrule!

But the Queen was told by the gravedigger that the two had stayed only one day and one night within the confines of the Royal Family's grave. Then they had left. Her hopes plunged. She quietly instructed Dampe that if the two ever returned, they were to take a message back to the King for her. "Let him know that we are alive and well, but that Impo did not return from reconnaisance. Tell him not to worry. I will do as we planned."

She could do nothing more than that. She did not know if the musicians had succeeded in their mission or not. She did not know if they would ever return. It looked as if fate was not on her side. She had missed her chance to return to the side of the King. She was alone. She was the sole protector of the Heir to Hyrule now. His life was more important than ever, and she vowed to do everything in her power to protect him. She would travel to the Forest Temple herself, knowing that the place was full of danger. Besides skullkids, wolves, and the Kokiri, she knew that the forest surrounding the temple was a maze; that took the wanderer to places they did not intend on going.

She set her shoulders determinedly, and prepared to take her child to the top of Death Mountain and ask Darunia for help.


	8. The Silver Gauntlets

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 8 The Silver Gauntlets**

When Ganondorf had her thrown from the tent following his startling revelation regarding the Queen's absence, Nabooru's mind was racing. A great many of his followers feared him because of the awesome power bestowed upon him by the silver gauntlets. They believed that he was the one destined to rule the entire world. He had vanquished 3 monsters: Volvagia, Queen Gohma, and Barinade. Other monsters like Bongo Bongo hadn't yet joined his ranks. They were watching and waiting to see what the outcome of this particular conflict would be.

The guards escorted her to her tent, which was next to his. They untied her arms and placed the shackle around her ankle. She knew that the secret to his strength lay in the gauntlets. If she could just get them away from him, all this would be over. She shuddered, remembering how closely he had leaned toward her as he told her his idea regarding the Queen of Hyrule. His words, his strength...she didn't want to think about how he had intimidated her. It made her feel so helpless and angry. She rubbed her wrists to try and get the circulation back into her hands

She sat on the edge of her cot to try and calm her mind so that she could think of some way of thwarting his plans. Every plan she envisioned, however, ended with watching and waiting for an opportunity. Little did she realize that she had silently aligned herself with the owl sage that Ganondorf kept in a cage in his tent. She had noticed the bird before, and although she felt sorry for the creature, it gave her the creeps whenever it looked at her. It seemed to know. It seemed to think. It seemed to watch.

Ganondorf had promised to remove the shackles if she agreed to become his bride. So far, she had refused, and didn't see any reason to change her mind. Her stubborness was great, but maybe if she agreed, she would at least be free to roam the camp. Maybe if she agreed, she'd be better able to grasp the opprotunity she desperately needed. She realized that there was more at stake than her own comfort. The entire kingdom of Hyrule was at stake. Not that she cared a great deal about Hyrulians.

She removed the tie that kept her hair up and began combing her tresses, considering the step she was about to take. She wasn't sure she could stomach it.

Just then the man of her thoughts entered the tent. He stood at the entranceway for a long time just looking at her with that cold assessing gaze. She hated to think what he was doing there. Usually he had her summoned to his tent for the clash of wills.

Finally, he took a step in, and said: "Why aren't you telling me to get out?"

She arranged her hair back into its usual pony tail and stood up to face him, gathering all her courage to say what she had to say, and say it convincingly. She looked up to where he stood. He wore a simple white shirt tucked into black pants. The pants, in turn, were tucked into black riding boots. His red hair was pulled back and his gaze was intense. She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that she hadn't had before. She became aware, suddenly, of the edge of her lips and the way she was dressed and the warmth in the tent. "I..." she began to say, but the rest of her words were gone. For a horrible moment, she thought that she would cry.

He came closer and knelt down infront of her.

This was unexpected. Her initial reaction was to step back, but she steeled herself for some strange conflict and forced herself to stay still. Instead, she felt his hands around her ankle, and suddenly, the shackle was off. He slowly stood up, but he did not look at her. "I've sent scouts into the nearby villages to see if the Queen has taken refuge in any of them." Then he glanced slyly at her, and she noticed he was amused. "Why haven't you stepped away from me?" he asked.

Startled, she tilted her head to look him in the eye, and to her horror, her eyes began to fill with tears. "Why did you let me go?" she asked, ashamed that her voice trembled. She couldn't believe that she had been about to capitulate to him. That he had released her without insisting that she uphold her end of the bargain was overwhelming.

He looked intently at her face: "What did you want me to do?" he asked softly, and wiped one of her tears away. When she did not reply, he shrugged and sighed. "Its no use anymore anyway. They've locked the tri-force away. I need to get the Queen to open the temple doors with that nasty ocarina of hers. The King's got the ocarina, and who knows where that brat of theirs is? If the Queen isn't there, it's pretty likely that they've taken the Prince out of harm's way before I even got here. I still have the spiritual stones, although one is missing, so it's quite useless, isn't it?"

He brushed passed her and sat on the edge of her bed. "I'll probably withdraw." He told her.

Those were the last words she had ever expected to hear from him. She was too stunned to formulate a reply.

"Do you remember, about a week ago, that white-haired warrior that Queen Gohma wanted?" he suddenly asked.

She nodded mutely and wiped her eyes.

"That must have been the Royal bodyguard." he said, laughing weakly. "They must have been close by. I guess that the Prince..at least, it must have been the Prince...anyway, he met his doom from one of my bony friends. Some of the soldiers found a little body the next day by the bridge. It was pretty messed up. Couldn't even tell what color his hair was. Thats probably why he came charging into the camp the way he did. I mean, think about it. Anyone on reconnaissance or some furtive mission definitely does not want to get caught by us. They definitely would not come charging into camp slaughtering innocent soldiers, right?"

She swallowed nervously. When he spoke of such gruesome things, his tone seemed so cold. He spoke so lightly of a child's death, she could feel anger rising up in her. "Yeah." she said drily. "Innocent soldiers." She grabbed one of her elbows.

He watched her for awhile, amused by what she had said. "Come here." he ordered her softly.

She came to stand beside him.

"Sit down." he said.

She sat beside him.

"Closer." he said.

After a moment, her back rigid, she sat so close that their thighs touched.

He watched what she did with a bemused expression. He put his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, not even looking at her. He placed his forefingers on his own lips and tapped them. Finally, he said: "Why did you do that?" Then he turned his head to regard her. "Have you changed your mind?"

Now a whole new game was afoot. Nabooru could be a scorpion when she chose to. He knew enough to be cautious. When she didn't reply, he softly said: "Don't cross me Nabooru. You'll regret it."

But when she turned her eyes to his, he was taken aback by what he saw there. She tried to form words, and managed only another "I..." which trailed away. He leaned back and automatically put an arm around her. At this, she turned her face so it rested against his chest. When he suddenly found himself comforting her, the incongruity struck him forcibly, so he stayed very very still. He told himself that she was only 15, still only a child inside. But she was also Nabooru. She was going to up and stab him in the back, or wait until he let his guard down and thwart him as best she could.

After a couple of moments, he gently pushed her away and stood up. He couldn't trust her. Even if she had changed her mind, he'd already set her free. The war was over. Things had happened because of him. He stood near the door and paused, his back to her. "I'm a monster, Nabooru." he said. "Don't forget it. And don't try to make me even like you, because I won't. There's something evil inside of me. It's best that you have nothing to do with me."

He stepped outside, letting the tent flap fall behind him, like a veil that covered the world he could never attain. He curled his fingers into a fist and kept his head lowered. A heart beat later, the alarm sounded. The drawbridge of Hyrule town was down and the army of Hyrule was pouring from its gates.

Ganondorf lifted his head and laughed like a maniac. "Curse you, Din!" he shouted. "Curse you, Farore!" he continued. "Curse you, Nayru!" he screeched.

He ran to his tent and donned his armour. He grabbed his sword. He grabbed the... He looked around, tossing clothing and pillows and knick knacks into the air. Where were the gauntlets? He started to swear profusely. Then he notice that Kaepora Gaebora was gone. The cage door was wide open. He plunked down in the middle of the floor, feeling as if someone had knocked the wind out of him. The silver gauntlets were gone.


	9. Death Mountain

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 9 Death Mountain**

The Queen packed some provisions. She scooped up the little one and placed him in his carrier and slung him on her back. He laughed whenever she did this, and inspite of the dismal prospect, she felt her heart lighten. She smiled as she walked out the back gate of the town. It would be a long, hard climb, but the sun was shining, and as she climbed, she felt as if she rose above the world of strife.

Half-way up the path, she rested, settling on an outcrop that overlooked the town. She could see in the dim haze beyond, the Plains of Hyrule upon which sat Ganondorf's army like an ugly dark blot. She nibbled on some lunch, a small arrow of sadness piercing her heart when she gazed downward. She lamented when she thought of her people suffering because of Ganondorf, but her blue eyes became like flint a moment later. Such audacity by the young upstart had already caused serious personal reprecussions for herself and her family. He had placed her and her son in this vunerable position, and by Din, Farore, and Nayru, she would play to the last act the role they required of her, even if it meant her own death. Everything that had gone wrong till now, she must believe with all her heart, would lead to the good of the world in the end. She had to believe in Din's power, Farore's courage, and Nayru's love. She would never curse her fate and she would meet that fate, not with slumping shoulders, but with a straight back and a peircing gaze!

She couldn't get back to the castle. She would never again see her King and husband. Her daughter would grow up motherless. Her son would never know his family. By all that was within her, she vowed to sacrifice all these things and save her son at all costs so that he, in turn, could save the world. For a moment, she saw him in her mind's eye as he would be: an heroic figure, slashing his way through the world, righting wrongs. Even in death, she vowed that she would be standing behind her fearless boy who would hold in his hand a shining sword. She would guide him from place to place in the world, vanquishing unimaginable enemies that crawled upon the face of the country. He would clear the world of evil things that kept everyone hiding in fear. She would be with him always, even if she would die.

The premonition of her own death did not disturb her. It merely strengthened her resolve. Death wasn't the end, but she sensed that the goddesses were testing her courage, her determination, and her love.

The vision faded, and in the distance, a wolf howled, beckoning the night. The day had lapsed without her realizing that time had passed. She picked up her son and once again slung him on her back. She continued up the mountain path in the darkening night. Here and there, a Goron greeted her cheerfully. She knew that she was getting close. Darunia would be able to help her. He was a moody King, but she knew he had a heart of gold and would not hesitate to help her and the Heir to Hyrule. Little did she know how bummed out he would get because of her.

When she arrived, the torches warmly lit the cavern of the Gorons. With her walking stick, she lit the sconces by the door, thus announcing her presence to those stationed there. Nearby Gorons responded by approaching her with warm greetings. They offered her a place to rest. But, they said, Darunia had been called away by the King of Hyrule. He had left when 2 musicians had appeared a few days ago at the platform inside the volcano. They had played the Bolero of Fire with the Ocarina of Time. The King of Hyrule needed Darunia's advice about sealing the sacred triforce away, for it hadn't been done for so long.

She stayed a few days, but Darunia did not return. The entranceway to the Lost Woods was blocked, and no one could remove the giant boulders for her. Not knowing what else to do, she decided to go back down the mountain through Kakariko Village and try to gain entrance to Kokiri Village from the Plains of Hyrule. She would avoid the dangers of the Lost Woods, and exchange them for the dangers of the ambitious Lord Ganondorf. If night time caught her on the field, she could briefly take refuge in Zora's Domain.

She gathered her things and hunted her son down (he was crawling around a gigantic jar on the ground floor). She swung him up, tossing him lightly just to hear his laughter. "Oh my little Link!" she exclaimed out loud, for he was now her only link to her husband, to her family, to Hyrule. The name struck her as a good one while they ran from Ganondorf. She had chosen a name for herself as well, although she revealed her real name to the gravedigger and to the giant Goron who spent his time forging swords and bragging about another, bigger Goron who also forged swords as a hobby. It was he who would tell Darunia that the Queen, burdened with the little prince had climbed Death Mountain to seek his aid. It was he who would say to him that she waited for several days, and had asked that someone remove the boulders blocking the way to the Lost Woods. It was he who told Darunia that no one could help her.

Darunia, hearing this, realized that no one could help her to the Lost Woods because it was he who had the Goron's bracelet.

She left Death Mountain, and it was the last anyone ever saw her or the prince. Darunia was the one who had to bear the burden of reporting it to the King of Hyrule. For a long time afterwards, because of this burden, Darunia often fell into a funk out of which no one could rouse him, until, one day, a little boy appeared before him, playing a tune upon a crude ocarina, a tune that somehow uplifted him...

(Segue to Deku Tree's meadow)

Out of the three guardians of the spiritual stones, only the Deku tree could not physically retrieve the treasure of the forest from the altar in the Temple of Time. The emerald had to be given to him for safe keeping during evil times. Saria, one of the ageless and always young Kokiri, seemed endowed with more wisdom than any other Kokiri, was chosen by the Deku tree to retrieve the emerald from its place. It had been a long time since the emerald had been in the Deku tree's safekeeping. The Deku tree, sensing unsettling events in the outer world, summoned Saria to his meadow.

"Young sprite," he began, although Saria was probably older than he was, "I need you to perform a most important task for me."

Saria put her ocarina away and focused all her attention on the old tree. He went on to relate what his deep roots told him: the outer world was experiencing strife. Something evil had arisen, and the emerald was in jeapordy. She needed to travel to Hyrule to retrieve the spiritual stone of the forest.

"I cannot leave the forest." she told him bluntly.

"Ah, that you can, small sprite." he said. He knew that she worried about the effect that the outer world had on the Kokiri. "Why is it, dost thou think, Saria, that thy hair is green?"

"I planted you. What do you know of my hair?" was all she could think of in defense

"My roots tell me, that it is Farore's favor upon you." He went on to say: "I feel in my bark that no harm may come to you because of this. Be not afraid of the outside world. There are sages ready to aid you in your quest."

Saria agreed, saying that she could travel directly to the Temple of Time with her ocarina. She just had to practice a little, since she had forgotten the Prelude of Light. She hastened to the Forest temple and sat on the tree stump beside the triforce platform. She practiced a little, then with lungs filled with forest air, laid a blast on the ocarina that sent the music soaring throughout the woods. In a twinkling of an eye, she transformed into a stream of sparkling light, and then she found herself in the dim cavernous temple. Behind her, the deserted altar silently proclaimed that the emerald was gone. With a grim look upon her face, she thought: _I hope there is a good explanation for all this._

The King of Hyrule was in trouble now.


	10. Flames of War

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 10: Flames of War**

The Field had been set on fire. The torches the soldiers of Hyrule carried as they came boiling out of the gates of the fortified town...the torches they used in order to see their enemy at night...these were the same torches that fell to the dry grass when Ganondorf's army rose up in arms against the unexpected onslaught. It was teased by the wind, scattered embers that caught fire and grew alarmingly, blossoming upon the horizon, lighting the nighttime landscape with a hellish glow. Sparks flew into the air higher than a fairy could fly.

The Queen had not taken refuge, as she had planned, within Zora's Domain. Instead, seeing that the entrance to the Kokiri village was quite close by, even though night had already fallen, she decided to risk it all with a mad dash toward safety. It seemed so close...She should have known.

She should have known.

The grass fire spread alarmingly. It created its own wind in addition to the wind that drove it straight toward her. In slow motion, she turned to look, measuring its distance and speed, and compared it to what remained of the last leg of her journey. She feared staying on the open plain for too long. She had outrun several groups of stalchilds already.

She could hear the fire's voice roaring closer and closer, faster than she would have thought possible. It mingled with the distant clash and roar of two mighty forces meeting sword to sword to lance to mace to arrow to shield to gauntlet. A stalchild rose up infront of her. She dodged and ran when it swiped its deadly claws at her. It caught her sleeve, and she heard the material rend, but felt no pain. The cut wasn't deep, but it bled without her noticing. Her eyes were on the wall of fire that consumed everything in its path.

Rabbits dashed past her. Deer, fleeing in terror, sprang right at her. Wolves ran past, their mouths open, tongues hanging out. All manner of creature madly trying to escape the heat, smoke and flames ran past her, and suddenly, she ran toward the fire, her deku stick extended infront of her...Could she out run it after she caught this dangerous flame? The deku stick caught quickly. She made an about face and ran like the dickens ahead of the fire. Then she set the grass infront of her on fire.

Her little fire caught easily and raced ahead of her as fast as the gigantic fire behind her did. Soon it burned five feet of charred smoking grass. She stepped onto the blackened island with her sturdy walking boots, and turned to watch the wall of fire blast toward her. The blackened circle of already burnt grass broke the wall of flame that threatened to consume her. But it was close, so very close. She felt as if the air was suddenly sucked out of her lungs, and she fell back a few steps, away from the heat. It roared around her little black circle until she stood in a giant field of blackness.

She was breathless and a little stunned at her own audacity...what strange impulse had guided her to run toward the fire and not away from it? How had she known to create the firebreak?

A stalchild rose up behind her and slashed her back. She heard Link begin to cry and she quickly turned, taking the full brunt of the stalchild's second slash. She didn't even have time to raise her arms in defense. She stared down at the talons buried in her chest. The third blow she deflected, but the talons were gruesomely stuck, as if the stalchild had curled them around her ribs. Another stalchild came at her from the side. She side-stepped that one, but the first one was still attached to her. It tightened its grip on her ribs and lifted its other arm again. She lifted both her arms in defense and felt the splash of her own blood on her face.

An owl swooped low, beating the stalchild back with its wings. She broke the stalchild's arm off, leaving the talons still buried within her. The owl beat that stalchild away, too, then landed beside her.

She knew that the pain would be coming soon. Right now, her chest felt numb, and her main worry was the Prince. She carefully swung the carrier off of her back. He was quiet, and his eyes were wide open. She removed him from the carrier and examined him quickly. He seemed unharmed, although the carrier had a slash. She glanced over at the owl. A refugee from the fire? Silver gleamed in the bird's talons, but the Queen couldn't quite make out what it was that the bird carried. "You will die soon." The owl said in a dry sort of voice.

That wasn't what she expected. A talking owl? Was she hallucinating?

"You have to get to the Kokiri forest as quickly as possible." and when he saw her try to remove the Stalchild's talons, he said: "Don't do it. The Kokiri will aid you. If you take them out now, your life's blood will spill upon the ground too quickly." He noticed that her arms were slashed up pretty good too. "It's not far." he said. "Let me take the child."

She nodded numbly. The strength was leaving her arms now. They were beginning to thob. Her legs were kind of wobbly. She did not know if she could out run another Stalchild attack. No matter who he was, the owl was a better guardian that she was at the moment. She tied Link back into the carrier, her fingers trembling, blood dripping down her arm to stain the laces. She watched the owl carefully pick up the carrier. He flew as slowly as possible, leaving a silver treasure in the blackened grass. She followed him with all the strength that she had left.

When they reached the entrance of the Kokiri village, it was nearly dawn. Her sight was dim, and the owl landed gently beside her. She lay down beside her son and put one bloody arm around him. She felt so tired...

A green-haired girl carrying an emerald found the couple at the entrance to her domain. Some escapee from the massive battle that had occured last night on the plains of Hyrule, she concluded. She looked closely, realizing that it must be a mother and her child seeking refuge..she noticed the massive wounds on the woman's arms, and she lifted the one arm that lay over the child...the woman groaned. Her eyes flickered open briefly.

Saria realized that the woman was near death. A star-shaped wound was in the middle of her chest. Blood covered the entire front of her bodice. Too much blood was on the ground beneath her. She was trying to form words, and Saria leaned closely to hear what she had to say.

"What's your baby's name?" Saria said, not understanding what the woman was trying to say. She knelt by her head and cradled it upon her lap. She noticed, even though the woman's face was splattered with blood and soot, how beautiful her features were.

The woman strained to speak. She was too far gone. Saria knew that she probably shouldn't have asked her anything.

"Link." the woman managed to say.

"What's your name?" Saria gently asked. She lifted the woman's hand and held it in her own.

The woman gazed straight up into Saria's eyes, and Saria thought to herself: _What a wonderful color her eyes are! _

"Navi." she said with her last breath.

Then something strange happened. A fairy rose out of the woman's chest and soared up into the sky. Saria watched it for sometime, quite astonished, for although she had lived a long time, she had never realized that fairies were the souls of people. She had never seen one born before. She was going to have to ask the Deku tree about this one. She looked back down at the woman's staring eyes. She let go of her hand and sadly closed them.

Then she looked over at the blue eyed boy, who met her gaze with one as interested as her own.

Suddenly, a great horned owl landed beside her, and at the same time, Kokiri came running out of the forest. "Am I too late?" the owl asked Saria.

Saria turned a contemplative gaze toward the unusual bird. Everyone crowded around the dead woman. "Is she dead?" Mido asked, but he stared at Link.

Saria nodded and stood up. She stepped over the body of the mother and untied the child from his carrier. She helped him to stand, and he immediately went to sit beside his mother, grabbing her skirt in one fist, leaning his head against her cooling body. He turned his back to them, but did not cry. They all looked at him, then looked at each other. The owl garrumphed and walked a little ways away. Saria followed him.

"What's your name?" Saria asked the owl

"Kaepora Gaebora."

Saria recognized the name, but didn't know why the sage was now an owl. She decided not to ask. You never knew with sages.

The owl composed itself and walked back to the gathering around the body. It cleared its throat and asked: "Did she say her name?"

Saria nodded and told him what the woman had said.

"And the boy?"

Saria said: "Link."

The owl had never heard these names. It couldn't be the Queen then. He swivelled his head a few times and ruffled his feathers. He stretched out his wings, then folded them away. He studied at the boy's features. What impulse had guided Kaepora to this woman and her child? Is it possible that the goddesses had intervened? If so, then surely this boy was important. He turned to Saria and said: "It's in your hands now. I think that this boy is important, although I am not sure who he is. You and the Kokiri must hide him within your domain and seal it. You can't let him out until the Deku tree says he can."

Saria nodded. The owl watched while the Kokiri gathered around the body and lifted it, taking it into the depths of the forest. The child still clung to the skirt, but did not protest, merely following the crowd. Saria turned and caught up to the child. She held his other hand.

Link looked at her, then let go of the skirt. The two of them stood still for a moment, looking at each other, then they entered the Kokiri forest together.

The owl flew away, recalling a certain silver pair of gauntlets that needed his attention.


	11. The Black Gauntlets

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 11: The Black Gauntlets**

Ganondorf woke up in the Gerudo Hideout. The only source of light emanated from a high small opening. He could hear nothing of outside activity. Maybe there was none.

The pain hit him all at once. His arm, his leg, his entire left side experienced the most excruciating sensation he could ever remember. He tried not to move. He tried to suppress the moan that came unbidden to his lips. He tried to see what was wrong, but couldn't even turn his head. He searched for the ugly power that he had been able to summon before, but he felt empty inside. He felt...clean.

An old woman entered the room and silently came to stand beside him. She checked his bandages, laid a hand on his forehead, nodded in satisfaction, but said nothing. He tried to speak, but his throat felt as if it had been welded together. By Nayru, he was thirsty! He tried to suppress another moan when the throbbing of his entire side did not abate, but became worse. His eyes became watery from the pain. He couldn't help it.

He heard her pour some water. He saw her hands holding a mug. He felt her lift his head...she was very careful and gentle, but still...the tears rolled away from his eyes, and he couldn't stop the agonizing cry that came ripping from the bottom of his being.

Nabooru stood outside, listening as the nurse administered a simple drink of water to the desert king. She cringed to hear his pain, and nearly had some sympathy for him. The battle waged infront of the stronghold had gone on for days. Every single Gerudo man but Ganondorf had been slaughtered. Many who were still alive were systematically put out of their misery by order of the King of Hyrule. When the Gerudo women came to the battle field to recover the bodies, there were very few left alive. Ganondorf was one of them. All other survivors, however, had died.

The King of Hyrule had then ordered each and every Gerudo male child be removed from the hideout. Even newborn babes were taken from their mothers. Their tears of sorrow did not move any single Hyrulian to mercy. The war between the desert people and the plains people had gone on for too long. Ganondorf's assassination attempts on the royal family and the loss of 1/2 the King's family had driven the normally reasonable King to use draconian measures.

After the Hyrulians had left, Nabooru had ordered the bridge be locked and a guard set in place. No Hyrulian would ever get inside their hideout again. She stood outside of Ganandorf's room and formulated a plan. She would help train the women to defend themselves. She would help organize raids to acquire the necessities they all needed.

She closed her eyes and cringed when she heard him cry out again. Wasn't there anything the nurse could give him to stop the pain? He had been lying senseless for two weeks now. Even when he was unconscious, he had moaned a great deal...well, it was amazing that he had survived after all. He had been found, pinned beneath a boulder. If it hadn't been for the black gauntlets, he would probably be dead by now.

Nabooru shuddered to think of it...when they had removed the gauntlets, a sight met their eyes that would never leave their memories. _Was he even human?_ she wondered. His arms were green and scaled like a reptile's. Spikes protruded from both his elbows. His fingers were talons...he had touched her with those hands before, and his last words to her had reverbrated throughout her being: "I am a monster, Nabooru..." But when the gauntlets were removed, his skin color returned to normal, and the scales melted into his skin. _What happened to him?_ she wondered. _How did he get this way?_

When they had removed the gauntlets, something evil and smokey had come pouring out of his mouth and nostrils. It had dispersed in the wind, but the women had been astonished to see this.

All the men that they found alive they hid within their training grounds. No one could penetrate to the heart of this mini-fortress within the hideout, not even the King of Hyrule was skilled enough. If only they had had enough warning to hide the boys in the same way...She tried to stop thinking about it, so she entered the room and watched as the nurse gently laid the desert king's head back down. Ganondorf's right hand was tightened into a fist, the bedsheets crumpled in his hand as he tried to control his moans.

She consulted in low tones with the nurse regarding his pain. The nurse replied that she had added poppyseed juice to the water, and he had taken most of it. Nabooru went to kneel beside the low bed, and placed her hand over his fist. Startled, he opened his eyes and looked to see who it was that had touched him. He said nothing, not trusting that words could yet be spoken without alot of groaning and moaning. The smallest movement was agony. Neither did she say anything, but only stayed beside him until the poppyseed took effect. She debated silently whether to tell him what had happened since they had found him, and she decided to find out, first, how much he remembered. She bit her lip and bowed her head for a moment.

He noticed her agonized look. On her face, it was a mere flicker. There was something she wanted to tell him, he realized. A strange feeling of numbness washed slowly over his whole body. It was a welcome change from the pain, but he noticed that all his senses were becoming dull, and he didn't care anymore what Nabooru was thinking. It used to be a challenge...

He fell asleep.

Although Nabooru was busy organizing and training the women, she had time to visit Ganondorf every day. Most times, it was only for a few minutes, but as he grew stronger, she stayed with him longer. He never said too much. Sometimes he only looked at her the whole time she was there. Finally, he said: "Am I some kind of obligation to you, Nabooru?"

She was silent for a while, but he waited for her answer. They had been walking down the hallway toward the outdoors. She was supporting him from one side, and she didn't answer him until she had settled him into a chair in the shade, and she took a chair beside him. They gazed out into the desert, where, far off, one could see the Desert Colossus.

"I need to know what you remember." she finally said. "What was the last thing you remember?"

He turned his head to examine her expression, but she had closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

It was the first time he had been outside, and as he gazed around he noticed that there weren't as many people about as there usually was at this time of day. Then he, too, leaned back and closed his eyes, allowing the warmth of the day to penetrate to his bones. "I remember looking for the silver gauntlets." he said after a while. "That stupid sage flew off with them. The cage door was open..."

"Sage?" she interjected.

"The owl." Ganondorf sighed. "He used to be the Sage of Hyrule Field. I tried changing him into a Stalfos, but he ended up becoming an owl. I caged him up and kept him as a pet." He smiled thinly at the memory.

Nabooru gave him a startled glance. _No wonder I thought that bird was creepy. He had once been human._ She swallowed at the thought of Ganondorf's cruelty and audacity. _How on earth had he overcome a powerful sage?_

"I probably didn't latch his cage door properly before I went to visit you in your tent that night."

Nabooru remembered that night...the moment before all hell broke loose, the sound of Ganondorf's maniacal laughter outside her tent, and his unashamed cursing of the goddesses into the charged night air. _He had even cursed Nayru.._

"I couldn't find the silver gauntlets anywhere." He continued, not noticing her reaction to the reference of that night. "I looked everywhere. Then I noticed that he was gone, and I knew it was futile to look for them any longer. I had just told you that I was going to withdraw.." here, he paused, and laughed a little insanely, and cursed again, although quietly. "So I used the black gauntlets."

There was a long pause, then Nabooru asked: "What _are_ the black gauntlets?"

He glanced at her sharply, but her face was unchanged, exept for a slight tightening of her lips. "Why do you want to know?" he countered quietly.

Hearing his tone, she opened her eyes to look at him. She met his gaze calmly. "Because when we found you, you had them on. You were...changed." she said for lack of a better word. "When we removed the gauntlets, you returned to normal."

He laughed softly and relaxed. So they had seen him.

He sat, lost in thought for a long time. In fact, Nabooru thought that the dark lord had fallen asleep, so when he spoke, even though it was only a murmur, she was startled. "Do you see the ruins in the desert?" he asked. When she nodded and gazed toward where he had indicated, he continued: "When I was nine years old, I decided that I was going to go there." He made a sound that seemed derisive of his younger self. "I thought that it would be an interesting adventure." He shifted position in his chair. "It was. It was." he seemed to become lost in thought once again. "That was when I found the Silver Gauntlets. They were in a place that only a child could reach, how stupid is that?" He added softly to himself: "What would a child do with such a thing?"

"What did you do with them?" Nabooru asked. It was odd to imagine Ganondorf as an adventurous boy. She tried to remember what he had looked like, but when he was nine, she had only been two. She only remembered him as being so much more bigger and more powerful than anyone else.

Ganondorf shrugged. "I tried them on, of course and of course, they didn't fit. So I kept them in my room for years and years. I actually forgot about them. When I was around 18 or so...about 5 years ago, I guess, I was cleaning out my room and found them in a box. I tried them on, and..." here, he paused remembering the power that coursed up into his body. There had been no other feeling quite like it. "I became powerful." he said simply. "The war with Hyrule hadn't started yet, and there was nothing else to do. I wanted to recreate the adventure I had had when I was a kid, so off I went back to the Colossus." Again, he trailed away and did not speak for a long while.

She glanced over at his face, trying to read his expression and saw there a look of pure hatred. "That's when I met those witches." he growled softly, in such a dangerous tone, that Nabooru felt goosebumps. "I wish that I had never gone." He stopped talking again.

The nurse came out, having tracked her patient down, and put a stop to the conversation. She gave him something to drink, which was laced with poppyseed juice. He knocked it out of her hand. "Enough of that crap!" he told her. The nurse scurried away, and Nabooru laughed out loud. "You're back to your old self already."

Ganondorf muttered something about addictions haunting a person's life forever, and they ususally began when doctors and nurses perscribed it to them. He began a rant and Nabooru realized that the story of the Black Gauntlets would have to wait for another day. She tuned him out while she busily thought about how to tell him the bad news of the Gerudo's utter defeat. She had put it off for a whole month now. She knew he wouldn't take it well.

"Nabooru!" he said again, more loudly this time.

She was startled from her thoughts and turned her pale face to his. His eyes regarded her intently, and he said: "You've been wanting to tell me something for a long time now, haven't you." It was more a statement than a question. "I can guess that it must be pretty bad news. You better let me know before someon else blabs it and I go on a rampage." He smiled with a glint of humor in his eyes. "It would be your fault then, you know."

"Ganondorf, don't joke about it." she pleaded softly. "We lost the war. It's been over for a month now. We lost very badly."

He waited for more, feeling a weird sort of distortion in his chest. He guessed as much, except for the "very badly" part.

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly.

She told him what the King of Hyrule had ordered done to the Gerudos and she could see his lips become white with anger. He realized now, why there weren't as many of his people out and about right now. The ones who weren't here were either dead or abducted. A cold rage settled into his being, and it doubled because his body was wrecked. There was nothing he could do. At best outlook he would always have a limp. He'd never have use of his left arm again. At worst, he'd always be dragging himself around, dependant on others to serve him.

Nabooru felt chills go down her back when he coldly said: "I will never forget this." and said nothing more, but only stared out into the desert where the Colossus was now hidden by a cloud of dust and sand. The desert wind was rising.


	12. The Golden Gauntlets

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 12: The Golden Gauntlets**

The King of Hyrule sat on the throne with his head in his hands. His body was wracked with shudders he couldn't control. The memories of the final battle coursed through his brain like a herd of wild horses...there had been so much blood. There had been so much loss of life. He winced, remembering the cold voice he had used when he had given the orders to kill the fallen Gerudo. Their cries for mercy haunted him. He couldn't believe that he had been capable of such, such...He shuddered again.

Voices around him gently explained to those present, that the King was having another relapse. He felt himself being led away from the throne room and laid down onto a small couch in the ante-chamber behind the throne. This quiet only made the memories crowd into his head even harder. He remembered ordering that all the male children in the Gerudo Hideout be removed from there and given homes in Hyrule town. He had kidnapped an entire village's children. What had he been thinking?

The shuddering stopped when he thought of his beloved Queen, who had never returned, and his son, whose quiet adoring smile he would never see again. For months afterward, he had sent scouts everywhere. He had found out from the gravedigger that the Queen had told him she was alright, and would do as they had planned, although Impo had not returned from reconnaisance, and he was not to worry.

This news kind of threw him for a loop, until he found that this was before she had hiked up Death Mountain seeking Darunia's aid. He then sent Impa back to Kakariko Village to seek out any news of her brother, and she came back, reporting that not only was he missing, but his entire family was gone. She nearly held back the story of giant spiders, since it seemed rather ludicrous, but she faithfully repeated what she had been told by the Village elder. All manner of monster had graced the battlefield on the last day, so it probably wasn't as far-fetched as she might have thought.

Then he set out to the Kokiri forest and spoke to the green-haired girl, who had said there had been many refugees from the battle that had come into the forest. Most had gotten lost or killed within the Lost Woods, but none of them had been the Queen or his son. It never crossed her mind that the woman who had died could possibly be so royal. Her clothing had been so rude, and she had had no escort. Even incognito, a Queen would have an escort. The King had returned to Hyrule disappointed. His wife and son had vanished off the face of the earth.

And when he talked to Darunia, he had actually become angry with his friend and pounded his fist on the table. Well he remembered the day he had the musicians summon the Goron to Hyrule Castle. He consulted with him for a mere 1/2 hour on what to do with the ruby during times of strife. After that, Darunia had prolonged his visit trying to help the King endure the seige, reinforcing the walls and ramparts...He could have gone back earlier, had he known. The King winced inside, imagining his wife patiently waiting for Darunia's return. Oh, why hadn't she stayed another day or two? he agonized.

After that, he lost all trace of her and the Prince.

Then, like a sudden plunge down a cliff, his mind shifted again to the last day of the battle. At his advisor's suggestion, he had donned the golden gauntlets, a treasure not often used by the past Kings of Hyrule. He had never put them on before, thinking that they were more like valuable antiques for display purposes only, and he had never been an ostentatious king, showing off his treasures in public. So when he donned the gauntlets, he did so more as a symbolic guesture. Ganondorf and his army of Gerudos and monsters were taking a toll on the Hyrulians, and everyone was loosing momentum. The King was sure that defeat was near, and he'd rather go out in a blast of glory as a true King should.

Imagine his surprise, then, when incredible power coursed through his body the moment he donned the golden gauntlets.

He leapt onto the battlefield with renewed vigor and hope, tossing huge boulders into the air, crushing many enemies with one blow. The Gerudo army, expecting victory that very day instead tasted a very bitter defeat. But it was thanks to the golden gauntlets that the battle was won, and infact, the war was ended.

Afterward, he had scoured the battlefield for Ganondorf (dead or alive), but the light had been getting dim. He had met the black-garbed king on the battlefield once, and had suffered a terrible defeat. He knew that the Gerudo women were collecting the bodies from the battlefield at night, because every morning, there were fewer and fewer bodies. Amoung the debris at the site of the trampled encampment, he did recover the ruby and the sapphire. At that moment, he breathed a sigh of relief. He could unseal the Sage now, and that monster would not be fooling with any unmanagable powers any more. No one should be able to grab that enormous power all for themselves anyway. What sort of fool could think he could possibly handle such power?

He discussed these things with the Sage of Time, and they decided that the sword should stay in the pedastal, and the remaining spiritual stones be given in safekeeping to Zora and Darunia.

Even for the King of Hyrule, the taste for power that the gauntlets had given him was probably what had caused him to order all surviving Gerudos slaughtered, and all male children removed from the Hideout. It was when he removed the gauntlets that sanity had returned, and the horror of war had set in. They cleaned up the battle field for the next few weeks. He had busied himself trying to locate his Queen, but the days and the weeks and the months passed by, and on bad days, he became useless with his entire body trembling with delayed shock.

These bad days becamed fewer and farther apart as time went on, and finally, they were celebrating 2 years of the anniversary of the Battle of Hyrule, and he still had no word as to the fate of his only son and his Queen. Zelda was 2 and 1/2, and a welcome joy in the castle. Impa constantly guarded her, but there had been no more threats on the royal family.

As soon as Zelda had learned to make sentences, however, she would speak of forests, and fairies and a boy. The King was amused by her strong imagination, and encouraged her to tell him more. The idea of a forest boy with a fairy who constantly accompanied him made the King feel better inside somehow, but as she grew, she would mention dark clouds covering the land, and something frightening in the future. After a while, not wanting to stir up his own distasteful memories of the battle, he became more and more distant from his daughter, and felt more and more alone. He immersed himself in his work.

His eyesight was failing him, a direct result of his clash with the evil Ganondorf. As the two Kings battled one another, the dark lord would throw brilliant balls of electricity directly at him. The King was able to dodge them, but as the attacks came faster and faster, he found that he could no longer see what was going on around him. His aides, noticing him in some distress, and in danger of being overcome by Ganondorf, sounded the retreat, and withdrew back into the town. It took him sometime to recover. By the next day, he was able to see shapes and colors. When he had donned the gauntlets, he had had his aides guide him. They had won the day, and the price for Hyrule freedom was one he gladly paid.

The people of Hyrule were astonished to hear how the King had suffered so many personal losses because of the power hungry Gerudo. They told the story over and over about how his heroism had saved them all. No one minded that he trembled with delayed shock. A lot of soldiers did. They loved him all the more. And the peace earned by this sacrifice was indeed a true peace. However, everyone knew that Ganondorf's body had never been recovered...


	13. Lake Hylia

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 13 Lake Hylia**

It was nearly a year before Ganondorf recovered from his wounds. He did have a limp, and his arm gave him pain if he over used it, which he often did. The sun and the desert climate induced a quicker recovery. Anyone who looked at him would never know that he had been so near death's door. The harrowing experience seemed to have changed him. He didn't wear as much black as he used to. He got into the habit of wearing looser clothing of a lighter color. Even in demeanor, he had changed. He smiled more often, although he did brood a great deal. His temper seemed colder than ever. That hadn't changed.

The shock of missing so many people had subdued him. Had subdued them all.

Nabooru's companionship seemed to be blossoming into more than just pity for the fallen soldier. She still visited him daily, prepared meals for him, swept his floors. He had gotten into the habit of surreptitiously regarding her, as if she were a key component to some plan he was hatching.

"Nabooru." he addressed her one evening. "You seem to like my company." He knew this statement would annoy her, but he was merely observing her behavior. To his surprise, she blushed.

"I'm just helping out." she muttered.

"The time for helping me out passed about 6 months ago." he said drily. "Why are you still here?"

She got offended and stubborn. "Okay, I'll go then."

"Don't be such a child." he snapped, annoyed at the games she played. Well at least she wasn't stabbing him in the back like she used to, he mused. _I ought to be thankful for that._

But he had said the wrong thing. He sighed when her back became ramrod straight with indignation. This wasn't what he had intended. He tried again. "Nabooru, listen to me. What I really mean, is that _we_ seem to be spending a lot of time together. I mean. What I want to say is, well..."

She looked at him expectantly. When was the last time he had been at a loss for words? She wasn't going to help him out with this. She folded her arms and waited for him to struggle with whatever he was trying to say.

"Look, I want to tell you everything, but you have to trust me. Will you come with me to Lake Hylia?"

She just looked at him.

"As my bride." he said, looking directly at her.

She felt all the blood leave her face. _When was the last time he mentioned that?_ She had stabbed him in the back the last time he had tried to make her his bride. No, wait, that wasn't the last time. The last time had been on the battlefield...but he had let her go then, and told her to have nothing to do with him. Had he changed his mind? She began to feel a knot form in the middle of her being. She had become close to him in this past year. They had shared meals together. She had done his laundry when it needed doing. She realized, that he was right. She was playing wife. She had not gone away when he didn't need her anymore. Why had she done that? Yet the cruel things he had done...she realized they were faded memories, yet they still served as a caution.

"You've got to say more than that if you want any kind of answer." she finally said.

He got up from his chair and came to stand beside her. She stepped away a little, but he place a hand on her elbow to prevent her from flying the coop altogether. "I'm the only Gerudo man left alive." he said quietly and intently. "I will say the same thing to you now as I did back then. I can have my pick of women, and I chose you. I haven't been able to let it go, and the only reason I let it go last time was..was that evil thing inside of me. I don't know what happened to it, but its gone. It's been gone for a whole year. I woke up here, and it was gone. You've got to know...You have to trust me, I didn't put it there to begin with. All the evil I did in the name of power and conquest...It wasn't me. I would never have done it." He said this last thing quite vehemently, and she cringed. He let go of her elbow. "You don't have to answer right away." He said, a great deal more calmly. He turned away from her and walked back to his chair. She left the room without answering.

If she didn't comply, he planned to...he crumpled his hand into a fist. His eyes flashed dangerously. He would forcibly take her down to the lake. Whether he returned with or without her. He sank into the chair with a groan. That was the old Ganondorf. He couldn't do that sort of thing...If she didn't want him, he'd have to continue with his plan without that sweet memory. Why had she stayed with him for so long? he lamented. She wanted him. He knew it. But she didn't know it. _Crap! _ This was giving him a headache. Why couldn't things be more simple?

The next day, he left. He launched himself gracelessly onto the saddle, adjusted his gimpy leg, and headed to the Lake. _To hell with Nabooru_ he thought. He had packed enough provisions to last a month. He beat the horse into a lope and headed out, his back straight. He was never coming back. He set his lips into a grim line. There was blood to pay, and the King of Hyrule would pay it. As the only avenger of the Gerudos, Ganondorf realized that he had quite a job ahead of him.

Nabooru stood on the bridge watching him ride away. Then she walked to the edge, and launched herself off, tightening her body so that she fell like a lance into the water, with hardly a ripple at all. If she followed the river, she'd get there before he did. She smiled in anticipation, wondering what his reaction would be. After she had left his room last night, she had hovered by the doorway and peeked in to watch. She saw him finally flop himself into the chair and express a great sigh. He seemed so sad...But she had expected him to wait for her answer. She saw him ride away this morning with a ton of stuff on the pack horse. She realized he wasn't returning. What was he up to? she wondered. Was the prospect of her 4th rejection too much for him? She doubted it. He had been wearing black.

She swam into the Lake and headed for the beach. The entrance to Zora's Domain was inviting, and she met a few Zoras, but did not exchange any words with them. After the long swim, she dragged herself up onto the narrow beach and lay down for a while, catching her breath. She looked around, and spotted him just entering. She stood up and waved. He brought his steed to a full stop, staring at Nabooru. Then he dismounted and came toward her, a puzzled look on his face. _Now what?_ he wondered. _Is this another game?_

Her clothing was stuck to her body, which gave him a full idea of what she looked like without anything at all, but she seemed unaware of the picture that she presented to him. He felt something inside of him break at the possibility that she was here to agree to his proposal. It wasn't possible...but what other reason was there for her presence? His steps quickened without him realizing. _She swam down the river...What a crazy bitch! _he realized. _She jumped off the bridge!_

He didn't say anything. He came right up to her and put his arms around her as if she was the life preserve and he the drowning man. He didn't let go right away, but when he did, it was only for an inch, just enough to tilt her head upwards...he could taste the lake on her mouth.

She found the shock of his lips on hers to be an overwhelming experience. Far from the forceful rapacious selfish kiss that she had been half-expecting, this was the total opposite of that. She could feel something coming from him that seemed to make her think that he cared about her. Besides that, he smelled of leather and horses and sun. Her senses drank this in. The feel of his arms around her made her feel sheltered and desired. Something within her responded like the sun on ice. The closeness and heat from his body was a thing she decided she could welcome.

He suddenly stopped kissing her and held her at arm's length, his fingers digging into her shoulders. "By Nayru, Nabooru, tell me that you came because...tell me that your here because...O by all that is holy, Nabooru, why are you here?"

He suddenly seemed really really angry, and she was still reeling from that kiss. In a small voice, she answered lamely: "I wanted to surprise you."

He half-collapsed onto the sand. "You stupid stupid wench." he finally said, as if her answer had taken the wind out of his sails. "You could have been killed!" Then, in a cold and quiet tone, he said: "Sit down."

She did as he told her, trembling in the cool breeze. He put his sun-warmed jacket around her shoulders. "Well," he began. "That wasn't the answer I had been expecting, but since you pulled that jack-ass stunt to get here, I guess it's just as good." and he began to tell her the story of the black gauntlets. He spoke without emotion.

"When I was 18 I went out into the desert, trying to recreate the adventure I had when I was 9. When I finally got to the place, I saw that it hadn't changed much. I wandered around pushing blocks, fiddling with different booby traps, fighting off flaming bats and these weird creatures that sucked the clothes off you. Then I reached this one room, and it wasn't empty. Two witches sat there, cackling away. I hadn't expected anyone to be there. They thought I was pretty bold to have come there alone. They began to torture me. One would burn me to the bone, and the other would freeze me to my soul." He stopped speaking for a moment and cleared his throat. "They drove me mad! I finally got to the point where I told them that I would do anything for them, just stop it! I felt as if I was going to die. I mean, it must have gone on for a couple of days at least. That's what it felt like anyway. Oh that pleased them very much. They hung me from the ceiling and started talking about giving me the black gauntlets. They took the silver ones off and put the black ones on..." He paused only slightly. "They were gruesome. They were worse than any torture I could possibly imagine. My skin turned green and scaley, my bones came right out of my elbows. This seemed to please them even more. "Its Ganon" they said. They let me down, but my memory started to fade. Next thing I know, I'm wandering in the desert and there's blood all over me and bodies everywhere. I took the gauntlets off and vowed never to put them on again. And I kept that vow until the Battle last year. I did go back to the Spirit Temple once to ask those witches for the silver gauntlets, and they gave them to me. I wanted to fight them then, but they had this ability to team up and become one person. It was really weird. But it didn't matter. The black gauntlets, or something the witches did caused this really powerful blackness to rise up in me. I can't explain it. It's like black lightning."

"Why are you telling me all this?" she wondered out loud.

He went to the pack horse and started setting up his little camp. She naturally assisted him as she had for the past year, but he brushed her helping hands away. "I'll do it thanks." he said. He started a little fire and began preparing dinner. "You better change out of those wet things." he said

"I'll just stand by the fire." she said

He shrugged. "The reason i'm telling you all this is because I'm planning on putting the black gauntlets back on."

She sat down and stopped fidgetting. "W-what?" she was completely puzzled.

He was 1/2 a motion away from removing the saddle from his horse. He paused. His shoulders slumped abit, and he leaned his forehead against the saddle. After a moment, he resumed his task, and he talked as he worked. "I can't bear it anymore, Nabooru. The emptiness at the Hideout." He staked the horse a little ways off and started to attend to the pack horse. He brought the animals a bucket of lake water each and carefully monitored how much they drank. Then he tended the meal at the fire and poked a stick into the flames. Sparks flew upward into the darkening sky.

Nabooru shivered. The little fire wasn't helping her much. He noticed, but said nothing. Standing in the hot desert sun, then plunging into the ice cold water, then swimming across a lake, he knew, couldn't possibly be good for anyone. He handed her a plate of hot food and watched her eat. He had brewed a dark liquid which he poured into two mugs. He handed her one, and again, observed while she sipped at it. Not one word of thanks passed her lips, but she ate and drank all that he offered her.

"I know that the women constantly look for their children. It's hard to watch." he said when he had done eating. He took her plate and cup and walked to the lake's edge. He scrubbed the dishes and pots with sand, and rinsed them thoroughly.

Nabooru didn't say anything. It was all his fault anyway. The King of Hyrule had been extreme because Ganondorf had tried to get the triforce. He may as well have killed the Queen and Prince himself. She had even heard the rumor that the King was now entirely blind. And that was because of Ganondorf too.

He brought the plates back and noticed her rebellious demeanor. "I know what you're thinking." he said quietly. "You think it's all my fault." He sighed. "Well, I can't get away from that one. It is my fault. I didn't start the war, but I very nearly finished it. With the Triforce I could have ruled the land! I could have stopped all the stife! I could have evened the odds!"

He was going to rant, she realized. Man, it was the same thing every time: triforce, triforce, triforce. She curled up beside the fire and placed her head onto a rolled up canvas. She closed her eyes. _I feel so tired._ she thought. She fell asleep almost right away.

In her sleep, Nabooru developed a fever, and began experiencing a strange dream. In the dream, she was once again at the battlefield, but instead of being on it, she was above it, as if she were a bird. She could see the flames starting. She could feel the wind rising beneath her brown wings. The wind seemed to have purpose. She felt something heavy that she grasped in her talons: it was the silver gauntlets! She realized that she was Kaepora Gaebora. She could sense a pit of blackness rising from beneath, and knew that the black gauntlets had been activated. She flew higher up, and saw that the flames had spread alarmingly. They seemed to eat the land like acid. She saw the wind chase the flames toward the Kokiri forest, and with her night-vision that all owls had, she saw in the distance, a woman carrying a child toward the forest. She was in the direct line of the burn. The wind had its own mind, its own objective. The wind had a murderous intent, and Nabooru could sense this with her wings.

From afar, she saw the woman turn her pale face toward the oncoming flames. She hesitated. All manner of beast leaped at her in their fright to escape. She stood still. In her heart, Nabooru saw this woman was pure and good and kind. The child she carried on her back emmanated a peaceful and sure strength. The owl could see the doom that awaited her...but the woman did a strange thing. Instead of running away in panic, she ran _toward_ the raging flames. She caught the fire on her stick, made a quick about face, and ran before the onslaught. She lit the grass on fire infront of her and followed the charred remains until she stood in a great swath of blackness. The raging fire that began on the battle field was rendered impotent. Nabooru felt complete and utter astonishment as she gazed down on that heroic woman. Then she saw the white bones of a stalchild rise up from the ground behind her. The talons slashed the woman in the back, and the owl could hear the child cry. From afar, Nabooru saw the woman turn to face the skeletal puppet, and saw the talons buried into her heart.

Like an stone, Nabooru fell from the sky, the urge to assist this doomed woman overwhelming...

Nabooru woke up beside Lake Hylia. Ganondorf was close by, his expression anxious, one hand on her shoulder as if he'd been trying to rouse her for some time, but had been unable to. Her body felt like lead. An incoherent moan came out of her mouth. Ganondorf scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the tent he had finished setting up. He laid her softly onto the bed he had made from the tall grass that he had gathered in the nearby field. Her body was like ice. He removed the damp clothing. In the dim light of the moon, he saw Nabooru, then covered her with all the warm, dry blankets he could find. It was a sight that would not leave his memory for a long long time. It was something he could take with him to the depths of the hell into which he intended on going.


	14. Navi

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 14: Navi**

She exploded out of the chest of the woman she had been, free at last from the mortal heaviness that had been her curse for the last 70 years. Now she understood why humans struggled the way they did. By Din, Farore, and Nayru, she knew at last what she must do. She slowed her carreening course into the heavens, and looked down upon Hyrule burning. From so high above, she could see from Zora's Domain to Lake Hylia, the Gerudo Hideout and the Haunted Wasteland. She could see the heart of the Kokiri forest, the Lost Woods and the Forest Temple. Far below, Death Mountain was a mere hump on the landscape...all these kingdoms in one glance!

She sped like an arrow to the Deku Tree. She laughed with pure delight. She anticipated the coming trials with great joy.

And it was all thanks to Ganondorf.

She laughed again. Oh, what a wonderful set up!

She chanted to herself: "Navi, Navi gate. Navi, Navi gate." again she laughed "NAVIGATE!" she shouted.

"Be thou quiet, thou most annoying fairy of all." said the Deku Tree.

Navi screeched and flew as fast as she could several times around the old tree. "I'm myself again!" she yelled as loudly as she could at the deaf old stump.

"Yes, yes." the old tree agreed. "Indeed, thou art thyself." he allowed himself to be amused by her reaction to the experience of human death, but his own reaction, as usual, was quite wooden.

Finally, she wound down, and hovered infront of the Deku Tree. "Oh, wise Deku Tree!" she exclaimed with all her heart. "The worst part about being human was having to endure the horrible pain of childbirth. And the best part about being human, was having a child to hold in your arms. The next best thing was having someone to share it with, and next to that, watching the children grow up in a world filled with parallel analogies."

The Deku Tree raised one bark eyebrow at this last puzzling statement. He wondered if she was quite sane. Maybe 70 years had been too long of a punishment for her. She had had no memory of being a fairy while she had been human, and although Hyrulians and Kakarikans were long-lived, she looked like a 20 year old when she had died. The King of Hyrule had not slapped eyes on her until 5 years ago, and she looked 20 then. He had been 30. Little did he realize that he had married a woman 35 years older than he.

"Dost thou knowest what must be done, Navi?" the old tree asked.

Navi nodded solemnly. "I do so." she countered.

"And?" the tree prompted.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love. To extend our reach to the stars above." she smirked.

"That is from Pokemon." The tree said, frowning. _Indeed, she hast not quite recovered from the shock of death_ He tapped her hard with the nearest branch.

"Oof!" she exclaimed, ricocheting like a badminton bird. She realized that she had deserved that. She rubbed her head.

"I think that first, I must visit Link."

"That is quite impossible, and thou dost knowest this." the tree benignly said. "Perhaps thou must remain human a little while longer."

She became serious at once. Being human sucked. Everyone was so stupid. Well, except Ganondorf and Link. Even Impo had turned stupid at the end, and she had thought he actually was quite smart up until that point. She sighed. "Okay, O Great Deku Tree!" she intoned. "My purpose is to guide Link."

"Very good, Navi. Thou hast indeed become more settled." The Deku Tree and all the Kokiri had long ago been worried about her, for she was a fairy without a Kokiri, and unmatched fairies became mischief makers. In fact, it was she, long ago, that stirred everything up between the kingdoms. Even as a human, for the first 30 years, she hatched plot after plot to pit Gerudo against Hyrulian, since for the most part, all the kingdoms had lived in peace for generation after generation.

"I must atone for the evil that I have done." she said, pouting a little.

The Deku Tree cast another benign gaze her way. "Thou hast already atoned, Navi." he said gently. "Thou didst do heroic and mighty deeds while thou wert human. Dost thou not remember?"

She hung her head in shame. "But for a long time, I only made things worse."

"Thou didst atone for that as well, Navi." The Deku Tree said.

"When can I see him again?" she asked plaintively.

"When thou hast studied all the evil in the land that sprouts up, so that you may tell him what to do when the time comes."

She hung her head some more, and began to cry. "But when will that be?" her little fairy heart breaking at the prospect of being away from her boy for so long.

The Deku Tree did not answer for a long time. "Thou cannot speed time, Navi."

Navi gave the tree a sharp glance. Was he being stupid on purpose? Wasn't the whole mess started because of the Triforce, and the very fact that it could send someone through time? An evil thought came to her...What if she could trick the old Deku Tree into sending the boy out before he was old enough to weild the master sword? She clamped down on the thought and shook her head. That was the old Navi...

The Deku Tree regarded the recalcitrant fairy with some compassion. For someone immortal, 70 years really wasn't very long, but for humans, it was an entire life-time. It must have been a difficult life for someone used to being so light to become so heavy. He well knew, with his roots, that she had struggled with walking for many years although she knew not why, and had cried many tears. Yes, she had made many mistakes, mostly out of loneliness and mis-placed anger, but because of her power, her mistakes were big ones. At the same time, once she realized the value of human life, and how precious they were, her will to set things right was just as powerful. Yet the reprecussions of her mistakes lingered.

She roused the nasty ghosts in the Graveyard. She tricked the giants that lived near the Forest Temple into attacking anything that moved. She taught some bats how to attack with fire. The deku scrubs she teased so much that they automatically popped up and spit deku nuts at anything that moved. Deku sticks used to be easy to harvest before deku babas became so angry and afraid that they swung right at whoever had come too near.

She knew their names and she knew what could hurt them.

She did not know some monsters, however, like "the monsters on the ceiling" that drop down suddenly, or the wolves, or the boulders set in motion, or those weird lizard creatures or Like Likes or redeads or mummies or Phantom Ganon: all these things and more, she still had yet to discover and to study. When the time came for her to be assigned to Link, she would know every evil thing that crawled upon the land, and as had been her ambition when she had been on Death Mountain, she would guide him through it and tell him what she knew.

If she couldn't be by her boy until she knew everything that the Deku Tree knew in his roots, she had better begin as soon as possible. "Where do I go?" she asked the wooden patriarch.

The Great Deku Tree smiled. "Thou knowest all within these woods already. Goest thou into the next kingdom and workest your way thoughout all the temples and caverns. Seek out every nook and cranny. When thou thinkest that thou hast found them all, return here, and my roots will tell you if thou hast missed anything."

Navi nodded, then she zoomed away as fast as she could. She wanted to see her boy.


	15. Ganondorf

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 15: Ganondorf**

When Nabooru awoke next day, she realized two things: one, she could never allow Ganondorf to put on those black gauntlets, and two, she was naked.

She didn't know how she was going to stop him, and she knew she had to, but first, she needed her clothing.

She knew that there was no way he'd listen to her. She saw his determination and strength. If she should declare herself his enemy now, she feared that he may very well eliminate her. She felt very vunerable. Her strength was gone...The Silver Gauntlets! she thought suddenly. With the Silver Gauntlets, she'd be able to fight him more equally, perhaps even stop his insane plan. But where had Kaepora Gaebora put them? Her heart plunged, foreseeing a long and difficult search.

"Nabooru?" came Ganondorf's voice from outside the small tent.

"Yes?" she answered

He thrust his hand through the tent flap. "Here's your clothes." he said quite matter-of-factly.

She sat up, clutching the covers closely, keeping a hawk eye on his silouette, and grabbed the bundle of clothing from his hand. His hand withdrew and his shadow moved away. She quickly dressed and adjusted her clothing, then stepped outside.

The sun shone with the promise of a hot day. Ganondorf was cooking breakfast on an open fire. His back was to her. She paused, her gaze boring into him as if by looking alone, she could divine his true intention. He turned his head and glanced at her when he realized that she was standing there for too long. He reached casually for the long hunting knife that he kept tied to his thigh. "I haven't felt that murderous intent from you in a long time." He said, and slowly stood up to face her.

By Nayru, he was tall. Nabooru flared her nostrils. Her eyes flashed dangerously. She was unarmed. What did he intend on doing? Could she defend herself from him? Could she outrun him? Not wanting to take her eyes off of him, she listened for the sound of the horses chomping on the nearby grass, gauging their distance...with his injured leg, he couldn't go far, but that wicked knife could be thrown like lightning...Her heart began to thud. Her legs were still weak from last night's bout.

She felt the fight go out of her. She bowed her head for a moment and composed herself. She heard him step toward her, then felt the point of his knife beneath her chin. With it, he forced her chin back up.

Her body shook with helplessness. She could feel tears building up painfully behind her eyeballs. She clenched her hands into fists, then relaxed them. What could she do, but surrender?

"What do you want, Ganondorf?" she asked through gritted teeth. She put shaking hands to her bodice and began unbuttoning it.

He put one hand over her two. "Stop that." he said.

"You've already seen me!" she accused.

"Not like this, Nabooru." he said quietly, almost with a note of pleading. He let his hand fall away, then he took the knife away from her throat and put it back. "You don't want me. It's pretty clear." His eyes glittered a little and his mouth twisted into a grimace. "I would never force you to do something like that." He shrugged and swallowed and didn't meet her gaze. "Last night...last night I just did what had to be done." Then his gaze met hers like a challenge. He folded his arms across his chest and strolled back to the burning breakfast. He tossed it and started anew.

How did he do that? she wondered. He was the one who had put the knife under her chin, not the other way around. Why was it that she was the one that felt like an ass? Had she misunderstood him somehow, or was he just so very much smarter than she was? But something inside wanted to know the reason he felt he needed to walk the path he had chosen so willfully.

She moved quietly to stand opposite of him, on the other side of the small fire. "Why?" she said in a tearful and quiet voice. "Why do you want to continue on?"

He looked up at her, puzzled. "Continue on?" he prompted.

"Revenge." she said simply.

"Oh." he said, a cold expression settling on his features. "I've made my intentions clear last night, Nabooru. I can see you don't like it. But here at the Lake, you may say what you wish. I won't harm you in any way. This is the truce ground. I didn't invite you here to fight with you. I will honor that. If you align yourself against me here, in this place, I will do you no harm. But if we meet outside this place, and you defy me, I will kill you." He stabbed his long hunting knife into the ground beside the fire. He put so much force into it that sand and gravel spattered in a small circle around the blade. He looked up at her with cold eyes. "Nothing personal." he smiled.

She felt a cold, crawling sensation up her back..."I will finish the job I started." she vowed to him. "You better not turn your back to me again."

"I won't." he said calmly, stirring the food on the fire, then spooning it onto two plates. He offered her one, along with another mug of the dark liquid. She accepted it, and they ate in silence together.

"I will find the Black Gauntlets again." he told her quietly. "I can almost hear them calling to me." the thought of them actually sickened him, but he was so determined to stay on this course, that he would endure anything. "I don't know where you hid them, but I will eventually find them, and when I do...The King of Hyrule better watch out. The gauntlets will straighten out this wrecked body." he said, remembering how the dark power had risen up in him during the fight with the man Queen Gohma had wanted. The man's sword thrust could have been debilitating, but with a simple touch, he had healed it. True, he had been wearing the Silver Gauntlets at the time, but the Black Gauntlets, although they turned him into a mindless berserker, gave him the same ability to heal quickly. He would have been dead if he hadn't had them on during the last battle. "I was just hoping..." he turned his unreadable gaze toward her again. "...that before I did that...before I turn myself back into a monster, I could have a little time as a human."

A cold rage welled up within her, one to match his. He had been planning this the whole time they had ministered to his wounds. Why hadn't they left him for dead? "This truce is over." she said. "You never stopped being a monster!" she accused.

They both suddenly stood up, Ganondorf pulling the knife up out of the ground. "What are you going to do?" she asked scornfully. "Kill an unarmed woman?"

"If I have to." Ganondorf said quietly. He stepped over the fire and was beside her in an instant. At the same time, she spun around to flee for her life. He caught her wrist and pulled her forcefully up against his chest. He held her easily with one arm, his lips inches from hers. "But I'd rather not." He could feel the rage vibrating inside of her, and he laughed at how easily he had caught her. If she really had wanted to leave, she would have eluded him just as easily. He lowered his head to test his theory, but didn't quite kiss her..._Ah_, he thought. _She's waiting for it._ She had held her breath. She hadn't closed her eyes, but she didn't turn away..."Nabooru." he whispered, his lips nearly brushing against hers as he spoke her name. He tightened his arm around her. By Nayru, she was a lovely thing! He would really miss her, but it didn't matter. Once he had the gauntlets, he wouldn't remember this either...at least, not until he took them off. He closed the gap between their lips.


	16. The Birth of the Queen

This is it folks. Pretty much all the questions I had regarding the game have now been answered. Whether I wrap this up satisfactorily or not, this is the last chapter. The following questions are the ones I tried answering. I realize that some answers are really reaching, since in the original game, there never were any Gerudo men. There are no black gauntlets, as far as I know. I'm sure you noticed alot of other anomalies. Anyway, here they are:

Have you ever wondered how the spider guy in Kakariko Village came to be cursed? What about that rumor that Kaepora Gaebora was once a sage? Ever wonder why Link's fairy came to him when he had none? Think about why Darunia, king of the Gorons was always so bummed out? Who named Link that corny name and why? Why was the sword stuck into a stone? Why do all those skeletons pop up at night on Hyrule Field? How did the spiritual stones end up in the places they did? What happened to Link's mom? Who started that war before the game? How did Ganondorf become so evil? Was he born that way? Didn't he ever fall in love? Why aren't there any men in the Gerudo Hideout? Why is Nabooru looking for the Silver Gauntlets? (Will we ever know?) How did the bridge get destroyed? Who the heck placed all those skultulas all over the place? What could they possibly have been thinking when they made Saria's hair green? And most importantly, who invented that ocarina?

(a/n: the bridge was destroyed while Link was locked away in the Temple of Time, so I'm not answering anything that I think happened during the game. But I did wonder about it. I'd say: Ganondorf burned his bridges when he left the hideout, and lets leave it at that.)

Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

**Chapter 16: The Birth of the Queen**

The Great Deku Tree seemed to be slumbering. Indeed, when he was 1/2 asleep, although he was vunerable then, he gathered the most information with his roots regarding the goings on in other lands. His roots were far-reaching. Even things that happened in the desert, where no roots would go, he quickly discovered.

The game was about to begin. He sensed that Navi was close to the end of her task. Link was now 8 or 9 years old. Ganondorf, in his quest for the triforce, had ordered Queen Gohma to infest the Deku Tree, and the Great tree could feel himself slowly dying. He knew that Jabu Jabu would soon meet the same fate. He knew Volvagia would soon be awakened. He knew that on LonLon Ranch, a young filly had been born, whose spirit no one but the Hero of Time could conquor.

But all he could think of now, was the Ocarina.

Without it, everything would be nothing. He knew that the Queen of Hyrule had brought the ocarina from the desert long long ago, but even she did not know that the Ocarina of Time had sprung up from the Great Deku Tree himself. When he and the Kokiri had cursed Navi, long long ago, so that she became human, her spirit entered the body of a girl named Elena, who was carrying on with the stable boy, whose name was Cameron.

It was Cameron who possessed the strange, compelling musical instrument. Cameron's family was very poor. They lived near the edge of the Forest, as did Elena's family. In order to survive, Cameron often went into the woods to hunt for rabbits, or whatever his slingshot could bring to the table. It was there that he found the Ocarina, hanging from a bush like a fruit. Delighted, he plucked it up off the bush and tried playing it. Of course he sucked at it. Only strange screeching whistling sounds broke the quiet of that afternoon. Nevertheless, he pocketed the thing, and in spare moments, would practice upon it. Soon he could play it as if he was a royal musician.

But poverty soon took his family to early graves, and he scouted around for work. Elena's father took him in and allowed him to sleep in the stables with the animals, so long as he helped out on the farm. Cameron proved to be an excellent worker, and things on the farm went from good to better. As the years passed, however, and Cameron grew to be a young man, he began to fall in love with Elena. The two of them often went into the Forest to pick berries and mushrooms. Everyone else was too afraid of the Forest to venture too far, but those two were fearless. He played the ocarina for her there, and there, they began exploring more than just the woods.

It wasn't long before Elena was with child, (who the Deku Tree knew to be Navi), and not long after that, that Elena's Dad murdered Cameron. Feeling betrayed by his daughter, he drove her into the Haunted Wasteland and dropped her off as far into it as he dared. He tossed Cameron's bodily remains beside her, along with all his worldly possessions, including the Ocarina.

Elena thought that she would go mad. She had no water, no food, only a rotting corpse for company. Poor Cameron's body soon attracted coyotes and vultures. She tried burying him, but the sand was packed like cement. She could only manage a shallow grave, upon which she put many stones. She had no more tears to give. Only a dull ache in her heart. She tried to find her way out of the wilderness, but ended up wandering around. She dropped everything else, one thing at a time, but she never reliquished the Ocarina. So when the Gerudo scout found her face down in the Wasteland, she picked her up and found the Ocarina beneath her.

When Elena woke up, it was in the Gerudo Hideout. They nursed her back to health, but for a long time, she did not speak. They noticed her condition not long afterwards, and offered neither sympathy nor judgement. If she worked, she ate. When it came time for the child to be born, she named her Elena, after herself, as Cameron had wished, but still, she did not speak afterward. She cared for the child as a mother should, and it was the child who prompted the mother to start speaking again.

Elena kept the Ocarina close by, and on occasion, would lift the instrument to her lips and play a soft and plaintive lullaby. Usually, she could not finish the tune, and break out into a fit of weeping.

But at the sound of the Ocarina, the child would stop to listen, her big blue eyes round with amazement, her curly golden hair like a halo around her head when the sun shone upon her at just the right angle...and a strange thing began to happen. The toy that little Elena had just broken, reassembled itself in the air and floated into her chubby fist. Elena stopped weeping and stared at her daughter. Was it the music? or was it her daughter?

And there, sweet readers, you have it. The tragedy of this child's birth and the tragedy of her heroic death is all the tale i shall tell. It brings to mind the question: Is Link truly a Fairy Boy?

geh heh heh heh

All my love, Sardonic Whispers.


End file.
